According to the National Osteoporosis Foundation, osteoporosis afflicts approximately 10 million Americans; approximately 34 million individuals have low bone mass, putting them at risk for osteoporosis. Unigene Laboratories Inc. (OTCBB: UGNE) is a biopharmaceutical company engaged in the oral and nasal administration of large-market peptide drugs.
Recognizing the growing worldwide osteoporosis market, Unigene focuses on developing PTH-based therapies and calcitonin, a product for the treatment of postmenopausal osteoporosis. Today the company announced Warren P. Levy, Ph.D., CEO and president of Unigene, recently contributed a byline story in two leading pharmaceutical publications. The article, titled “Focusing on the Task of Reinventing Peptide Drugs; Unigene Has Introduced an Enzyme-Based Assay for the Discovery of Amidated Peptides,” emphasizes the importance of peptides in pharmaceutical research.
The article was featured in Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News (GEN), the most widely read biotechnology publication in the world, and Pharmaceutical Formulation & QualityMagazine (PFQ), a health care journal with national circulation.
“Unigene’s technologies may enable the introduction of several oral peptide hormone drugs for administration in chronic osteoporosis and diabetes,” Dr. Levy stated. “While certain individual development projects are early stage, the trend is positive and the possibilities are plentiful. There has never been a more exciting time to be involved in peptide pharmaceutical development. Oral delivery methods have changed the paradigm for peptide drugs irrevocably – and for the better.”
In the article, Dr. Levy highlighted the company’s developments of a new enzyme-based assay for the discovery of amidated peptides, which could help identify low-concentration peptide hormones expected to open the door for the discovery of novel, biologically active peptides suitable for pharmaceutical development.
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