Grants and Contributions:

Grant or Award spanning more than one fiscal year (2017-2018 to 2018-2019).

Peptide based therapeutics make up a significant portion of the current armory we have against diseases andx000D
illnesses. However, unmodified peptides are not suitable as drugs because of their poor chemical and physicalx000D
stability, short circulating plasma half-life, and limited oral bioavailability. To circumvent these disadvantages,x000D
a significant amount of effort has been put forward to chemically modify unprotected peptides. Thesex000D
modifications add valuable characteristics such as enhanced cell permeability, increased stability to proteases,x000D
increased oral bioavailability, extended lifetime in the blood serum, improved specificity and conformationalx000D
rigidity to augment potency. Currently, robust rapid modification of unprotected peptide protocols are limitedx000D
to solely academic laboratory use. Industry-scale syntheses of peptide derivatives are not common. With thex000D
growing need in peptide-based therapeutics, TC Scientific Inc. aims to develop a peptide modification protocolx000D
that is suitable for industry level production. The Derda Lab at the University of Alberta has extensivex000D
experience in robust rapid modification of unprotected peptides in water using readily available modifiers. Byx000D
combining the academic advantage of the Derda group and the industry experience from TC scientific Inc., thex000D
goal of this proposal is to develop robust industrial peptide modification protocols.