Fujifilm Validates Cancer Cell-Targeting Potential of Peptide Oligonucleotide Conjugates with Novel Cyclic Peptides

Research highlights to be presented at TIDES USA 2025

TOKYO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--FUJIFILM Corporation announces the successful validation of the cancer cell-targeting potential of its peptide-oligonucleotide conjugates. This validation resulted from combining oligonucleotides with cyclic peptides developed from Fujifilm’s proprietary peptide library, which contains trillions of variants. This research achievement will be presented at TIDES USA, an exhibition to be held from May 19 to 22, 2025, in San Diego (poster number: 35).

Cyclic peptides, including those containing unnatural amino acids, are emerging as a promising new modality in drug discovery due to their unique and favorable properties, including high binding affinity and specificity, improved tissue permeability, and synthetic versatility. Peptide-oligonucleotide conjugation addresses delivery challenges associated with oligonucleotide-based therapies by utilizing the excellent delivery properties of peptides and have been actively researched.

Leveraging its large peptide library constructed with mRNA display technology, and structural optimization techniques, Fujifilm has developed a proprietary cyclic peptide that binds strongly to integrins overexpressed on the surface of cancer cells, with a low dissociation constant (K_D) of 1.6 nM. Utilizing chemical modification methods Fujifilm can successfully synthesize the peptide-oligonucleotide conjugate at high yield. Uptake of these peptide-oligonucleotide conjugates by cancer cells is higher compared to uptake of the non-conjugated oligonucleotide, demonstrating the peptide-oligonucleotide conjugate’s ability to selectively accumulate in cancer cells.

Fujifilm is expanding its drug discovery services for peptide therapeutics globally, providing a wide range of contract research services focusing on peptide discovery, high-throughput screening, and structural optimization. Fujifilm’s one-stop comprehensive service includes peptide chemical synthesis and target protein expression and purification to meet diverse research demands. Fujifilm is committed to driving research and development that fosters technological innovation in the healthcare field, leveraging the ability of cyclic peptides to regulate cellular functions and their specific molecular recognition capabilities, contributing to the advancement of pharmaceutical development of peptide therapeutics.

For more information please visit: Discovery Service of Diverse and High-Affinity Cyclic Peptides