PeptARx — Integrated Peptide Drug Discovery Platform

75 scientists with 550+ alidated assays, running peptide-specific biochemical, cellular, and mechanistic screens in parallel with synthesis — so you never wait for biology data.

• Fluorescence Polarisation competitive displacement for peptide binding
• Surface Plasmon Resonance (Biacore 8K+) for kinetic characterisation
• AlphaScreen, TR-FRET/HTRF, luminescence biochemical assays
• Cell-based assays: reporter lines, cancer lines, PBMCs, primary cells
• High Content Imaging (Operetta CLS) for phenotypic screening
• Automated Patch Clamp (QPatch II 48) for ion channel targets
• Peptide degradation assays (Jess) — 80 compounds/month
• Biomarker modulation, target engagement, PD assays (in vitro & ex vivo)
• Biomek i7 & Echo 550/650 automated liquid handling for HTS
• 800+ active proteins & engineered cell lines generated

100-person DMPK team delivering peptide-relevant ADME, PK, and bioanalysis with under 7-day turnaround — one of the fastest in the CRO industry. No bottlenecks in bioanalysis.

• Solubility: kinetic, thermodynamic, FaSSIF/FeSSIF/FaSSGF
• Metabolic stability: microsomes & hepatocytes across 5 species
• Plasma protein binding, plasma stability
• PEPT1, PEPT2 transporter substrate and inhibition
• In vivo PK in rodent and non-rodent species
• Biomek i7 automation: 150 compounds/assay (3× manual throughput)
• Orbitrap and TOF MS/MS for ultra-fast bioanalysis (5-day assay-to-report)
• XLRATE platform for real-time data transparency
• Consultative approach: study design through data interpretation

PeptARx supports virtually every class of therapeutic and research-grade peptide, including:

• Linear, branched, cyclic, bi-cyclic, and stapled peptides
• Macrocyclic peptides and conformationally constrained designs (on-resin and off-resin cyclisation)
• Peptide conjugates — lipid, steroid, small molecule, carbohydrate, PEG, DOTA, fluorophore
• Peptide-drug conjugates (PDCs), peptide-PMO (PPMO), and peptide-oligonucleotide conjugates (POC)
• Long peptides and synthetic protein fragments (up to 150+ amino acids) via NCL and KAHA ligation
• Peptidomimetics and N-alkylated, β-amino acid, and glycosylated amino acid-containing sequences

We operate across all three major synthesis platforms — solid phase, liquid phase, and hybrid — using Fmoc, Z- and t-Boc chemistries. With 550+ unnatural amino acids catalogued in-house, we can incorporate non-standard building blocks without sourcing delays that add weeks to competitor timelines. Scale ranges from milligrams to >500 g (non-GMP), with purities routinely exceeding 98%.

The most common reason peptide drug candidates fail is not poor synthesis — it is poor druggability. Solubility issues, plasma instability, low permeability, and aggregation-related problems frequently surface late in the development cycle, after months of synthesis and testing have already been completed.

PeptARx is designed specifically to catch these failures early. Because our peptide chemists work alongside DMPK scientists and ADS scientists at the same site and within the same project team, we can flag formulation-level problems during the synthesis phase itself. This “formulation-aware” approach means clients know within weeks — not months — whether their candidate has a viable path forward.

Peptide candidates require specialised ADME assessment that differs from standard small-molecule protocols. Aragen’s 109-person DMPK team delivers peptide-relevant profiling with a turnaround of under 7 working days, including:

• Solubility screening (kinetic, thermodynamic, biorelevant media including FaSSIF, FeSSIF, and FaSSGF)
• Permeability assessment (Caco-2, MDCK, MDCK-MDR1)
• Metabolic stability in microsomes, S9 and hepatocytes across five species (human, mouse, rat, dog, monkey)
• Plasma protein binding and plasma stability
• In vivo pharmacokinetics in rodent and non-rodent species

Our Biomek i7 automated workstations process 150 compounds per assay (3× manual throughput), and RAPID FIRE MS/MS enables a 5-day assay-to-report cycle — ensuring that DMPK data never becomes the bottleneck in your peptide discovery timeline.

Yes — metabolic disease and GLP-1 programs are one of PeptARx’s strongest therapeutic focus areas. The GLP-1 revolution has created enormous demand for peptide synthesis and characterisation services, from semaglutide analogues to next-generation dual and triple agonists.

What sets Aragen apart is the depth of our biosafety team’s experience with GLP-1 molecules. Our team has conducted bioanalytical studies on 20+ GLP-1 molecules — covering both innovator and biosimilar programs. This means we can offer a true end-to-end metabolic peptide workflow: from peptide synthesis through DMPK profiling to GLP toxicology, all under one roof.

IP protection is paramount for peptide drug discovery. Aragen has maintained robust IP protection protocols across 23 years of drug discovery partnerships, serving 400+ global customers with a 90%+ repeat rate.

Our IP protection infrastructure includes fully digital operations with 21 CFR Part 11-compliant electronic lab notebooks (eLNB), strict documentation protocols for data integrity and confidentiality, and the InCoRe digital platform for real-time project transparency while maintaining data security. Frost & Sullivan 2024 Global Customer Value Leadership Award recipient.

Critically, Aragen has zero BIOSECURE Act exposure. As an India-headquartered CRDMO, our operations are not affected by the US legislation restricting collaboration with certain China-based service providers. Up to 60% cost advantage versus Western CROs.

PeptARx supports the full discovery-to-preclinical scale continuum without requiring technology transfer to a separate manufacturing partner. Our scale range covers:

• Discovery scale: Milligram quantities for SAR studies, assay development, and lead identification
• Optimisation scale: Hundreds of milligrams for in vivo efficacy studies, DMPK profiling, and formulation development
• Preclinical / IND-enabling scale: >500 g batches at >98% purity (single impurity <0.5%), scalable toward kilogram quantities for toxicology studies

This is enabled by automated synthesisers (CEM Liberty Blue, CEM MultiPep, Biotage Alstra, Symphony) for discovery scale, SONATA/XT reactors and 10L jacketed reactors for scale-up, and 24/7 preparative HPLC purification capacity supporting peptides from 1,000 to 20,000 Da