Peptide Therapeutics Manufacturing Plant Facility

Japan’s First Domestic Peptide Therapeutices Manufacturing Facility

Chiyoda Corporation (Chiyoda) has completed the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) of a specific cyclic peptide therapeutics manufacturing facility in 2019, the first of its kind in Japan, and a large-scale commercial production base for PeptiStar Inc., a company renowned for its novel therapeutic peptides with excellent characteristics.

PeptiStar Inc. was established in 2017 as a joint venture between PeptiDream Inc., Shionogi & Co., Ltd., and Sekisui Chemical Co., Ltd. PeptiStar is responsible for the manufacturing specialty peptide therapeutics as medium molecules, which are intermediate between small-molecules and antibodies.

Middle-molecule pharmaceuticals are expected to be the next generation of pharmaceuticals due to their ability to combine the advantages of low-cost manufacturing, similar to small molecule drugs which are currently the mainstream in the pharmaceutical industry, and the high therapeutic efficacy of biopharmaceuticals.

The facility is designed for the research, development and manufacturing of a specific type of middle molecule pharmaceutical known as specific cyclic peptide therapeutics. In addition to the peripheral intellectual property and technologies related to specific cyclic peptide pharmaceuticals held by PeptiDream Inc., the facility incorporates essential technologies required for commercial-scale manufacturing of specialty peptide pharmaceuticals.

Through this project, Chiyoda is contributing to ‘achieving the research and development of synthesis and manufacturing process of the peptide therapeutics and its production by gathering knowledge and know-how of all the Japanese partners,’ a goal of the customer, and was awarded the Enhancement of Engineering and the Creation of a New Field for the fiscal year 2020 by the Engineering Advancement Association of Japan (ENNA).

• Specific cyclic peptide therapeutics comprise 20 naturally occurring and non-natural amino acids which contribute to increasing the variety of compounds and increases the possibility of drug discovery accordingly. The inclusion of non-natural amino acids leads to an increase in compound diversity and expands the potential for drug discovery.