Demand for next-generation GLP-1 drugs is fueling a boom in peptide research, prompting companies like Sai Life Sciences to expand capabilities amid a hot market for obesity and diabetes treatments. “The GLP-1 agonists have exploded the peptide field,” said Maneesh Pingle, Ph.D., executive vice president and head of discovery services at Sai Life Sciences, in a recent interview. The Hyderabad, India-based CRO/CDMO hybrid responded by inaugurating a dedicated Peptide Research Center in April at its integrated R&D campus there, a 50-person facility equipped for complex peptide synthesis, discovery and conjugates using automation, robotics and high-throughput systems. The company, which works with over 300 global pharma and biotech firms and operates facilities in India, the U.S. and U.K. sees the peptide boom extending well beyond metabolic drugs. “Everybody wants to work on peptides of different sorts, not just for GLP-1s, but even beyond that,” noted Pingle, who operates from the company’s Cambridge, Massachusetts–based facility. He added that the company is also developing expertise in peptide conjugates. “We have customers who make peptide conjugates, and we are able to supply them with the peptides, the linker, the ligand and work with it downstream.”
Peptides surge extends beyond GLP-1s
Maneesh Pingle, Ph.D.
Another factor driving interest in peptides is the popularity of antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs), which are experiencing renewed interest. “It’s really, really hot,” Pingle said of the ADC space. “I think Daiichi’s success with Enhertu is what rekindled the interest in the ADC space.” The Daiichi Sankyo-AstraZeneca partnership drug has shown impressive results across multiple cancer types, reigniting industry confidence in ADCs after years of mixed results.
Sai Life Sciences is positioning itself to capitalize on these trends through its end-to-end services, blending discovery with development and manufacturing to cut timelines for clients. “Everybody’s timelines are accelerated now,” Pingle said. “The timeline to get from idea to the clinic is way shorter than it ever used to be.”
The company’s discovery arm, which Pingle heads, focuses on reducing “cycle time,” the span from molecule design to data return, by co-locating synthesis, biology and testing on the same campus. This setup, combined with early input from process chemists, helps avoid scalability pitfalls. “You start bringing in development expertise sooner into the picture,” Pingle explained. “That way you can avoid headaches in the future, you can make things go faster, and you can make the right choices.”
Complex modalities drive partnerships
The rise of these complex modalities, from peptide conjugates to ADCs, comes as drug developers face intense pressure to shorten timelines, and some face significant financial headwinds, too. Pingle says this is fueling demand for integrated partnerships that pull in manufacturing expertise sooner. “The traditional way would have been you get all the way through discovery… and then that company looks at it and says, ‘Well, wait a second, this is great for discovery scale, but you can’t do this in kilogram scales.’ You avoid that completely if you have this integration,” he explained.
From service provider to strategic partner
This integrated approach reflects a broader industry shift: innovator companies, especially biotechs, are moving beyond basic outsourcing to deeper collaboration with research partners. New modalities are more complex, and funding pressures are tighter, making the old model unsustainable.
“The thought process used to be… we’ll have an internal core team that’s going to work on all the cool stuff, and we’ll outsource the easy stuff,” Pingle said. “That’s changing for sure, as companies realize the benefits of leveraging what the CRO can offer beyond just a pair of hands.”
The shift pulls CROs into discovery earlier, including tasks once kept in-house. Pingle pointed to target validation as an example. “They are now asking us to do what traditionally would have always been done internally,” he said. “If we don’t validate a target, they will not proceed with it.”
The trend stands out among smaller biotechs facing tight funding. To stretch dollars, they treat partners like Sai as R&D extensions. “We’re becoming almost biotech-like for some customers in terms of what we can offer them,” Pingle said, stressing client ownership. “We’re very clear: whatever we do belongs to them… We don’t want to get into the business of being a biotech company.”
Sai’s integrated partnership strategy appears to be paying off. The company reported 16% revenue growth and 105% net profit increase year-over-year for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2025. The results signal demand for partners that cut risks in complex programs and speed paths to the clinic.
What’s next: Oral peptides and smarter ADCs
Pingle expects more changes in top therapeutic areas. Injectable GLP-1s lead the metabolic field now, but the industry wants easier options. “I think the real interest is to see if there’s an oral alternative to peptides,” he said, noting major players aim to protect markets with patient-friendly forms.
In ADCs, he sees new tech following the recent surge. “What’s been approved is still using linker technologies and payloads that have been well known for quite a while,” Pingle said. “The new innovations are yet to come… We will see a lot of new technologies come out in the next 12 months or 18 months.”
Handling these trends means sticking to basics, Pingle said. “We have to always remember that we’re scientists,” he added, “and that science is going to be the driver for what we can achieve.”
Filed Under: Biotech, clinical trials, Drug Delivery, Drug Discovery, Metabolic disease/endicrinology
