Led by Jonathan Steckbeck, South Side-based Peptilogics is a biotech firm that specializes in drug development using peptide therapeutics. Peptides are tiny biological materials made of short chains of amino acids that are capable of treating diseases and reducing inflammation within the body. Peptilogics’ leading treatment is PLG0206, which is used to treat infections that can occur after joint-replacement surgeries. It is currently being tested in ongoing clinical trials. Steckbeck is responsible for developing the company’s computational drug discovery platform, which utilizes generative AI to help speed the process of drug development.
How do your products solve a problem?
We have hit efficiency limits in drug discovery and development, with the cost of bringing a new drug now exceeding $2 billion. Our goal is to improve the probability of successful development using modern computational techniques to learn biology and use that understanding to be more accurately prescriptive in drug design. Our clinical program provides evidence that doing so is possible, as we designed that drug specifically to overcome safety problems that had been associated with its molecular class. Continuing to make progress in the clinic increases our confidence in our approach and ability.
What is your vision for the future impact of what you are developing?
Not only will we change the entire treatment paradigm for device-related infections and bring a cure to patients who currently suffer with no good solution, but if our drug is approved, we will contribute significantly to making drug discovery more efficient. By reducing the cost of discovery and development at scale, we see the possibility of making an impact by lowering drug prices while still making a profit. The combination of more treatable diseases and lower drug prices will improve society’s health span, allowing more people to live longer, healthier lives.
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