Sai Life Sciences Establishes Peptide Research Center at R&D Campus in India
Rising demand for peptide-based therapeutics prompts the launch of this new peptide research center, which will offer services across peptide synthesis, discovery, and advanced modalities.
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Sai Life Sciences, a contract research, development, and manufacturing organization (CRDMO), has launched a new dedicated peptide research center, which is housed on its integrated R&D campus in Hyderabad, India, the company announced on April 3, 2025 (1).
The center will offer specialized services across peptide synthesis, discovery, and advanced modalities, including complex conjugates, to support innovator pharmaceutical and biotech companies. The center integrates automation, advanced liquid handling, robotics, and high-throughput systems to enhance the precision, scalability, and efficiency with which novel peptide-based therapeutics are developed.
“As the pharmaceutical industry evolves from small molecules to emerging modalities [such as] peptides, we are expanding our capabilities to stay ahead. Our new Peptide Research Center reflects this commitment—designed to meet the growing demand for complex peptide synthesis and conjugation. With this investment, we reinforce our role as a trusted partner in advancing next-generation therapeutics,” said Krishna Kanumuri, CEO and managing director, Sai Life Sciences, in the company press release (1).
The company plans to integrate the new center into its end-to-end discovery services, which encompasses synthetic and medicinal chemistry, biology, drug metabolism and pharmacokinetics, and toxicology. Using this holistic approach, the company can ensure seamless transitions across different stages of drug discovery, which can help accelerate timelines and enhance success rates for peptide-based drug development.
“The demand for peptide-based therapeutics is rising rapidly, driven by their high specificity, biocompatibility, and lower risk of off-target effects,” said Maneesh Pingle, head of Discovery Services, Sai Life Sciences, in the release. “[We] have a seasoned team of scientists with years of experience successfully delivering peptide discovery and development projects. Combined with our expanding capabilities, this expertise positions us strongly to support our clients’ evolving needs as they advance peptide therapies across diverse therapeutic areas."
Also answering this increasing demand is BioDuro, a CRDMO, which announced the opening of its new peptide synthesis scale-up facility in Shanghai earlier this year in January (2). BioDuro’s new facility is a fully automated scale-up laboratory for solid-phase peptide synthesis and is housed on the campus of the company’s Shanghai Zhangjiang High-tech Park in China.
In addition to automated solid-phase peptide synthesizers, the kilogram-scale laboratory is equipped with cleavage systems and freeze-drying equipment. It can support the scale-up of peptide synthesis to 800 mmol and is designed to produce a wide range of peptide molecules, including linear peptides, cyclic peptides, and various peptide drug conjugates (PDC), according to a BioDuro press release issued at the time (2).
The Shanghai laboratory complements BioDuro's peptide discovery synthesis center in Beijing. The Beijing center focuses on early-stage R&D. Together with the Shanghai peptide synthesis scale-up facility, the two centers can offer seamless integration of peptide projects from discovery to development, according to the company press release. In addition, the chemistry teams at both campuses specialize in solid-phase and liquid-phase peptide synthesis, which offers additional flexibility and customization.
“Demand for peptide-based programs has increased considerably, and the opening of this new laboratory provides our customers with a significant step forward in addressing the capabilities required to scale their candidates to compete in this fast-growing field,” said Armin Spura, PhD, CEO of BioDuro, in that company’s press release (2).
References
1. Sai Life Sciences. Sai Life Sciences Sets Up Peptide Research Center in India. Press Release. April 3, 2025.
2. BioDuro Opens New Solid-Phase Peptide Synthesis Scale-Up Facility. Press Release. Jan. 9, 2025.
