# Peptides and oligonucleotides

Synthetic peptides and oligonucleotides: chain molecules such as semaglutide and siRNA drugs, made in tiny tonnages with very high solvent use, booming on GLP-1 demand.

Source page: https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/peptides_oligos/

Fine chemicals · Pharmaceutical · No. 96

- Product family
- not published; individual GLP-1 APIs need from about one to several tonnes a year (derived: 2.4 mg weekly semaglutide is about 125 mg per patient per year, so 10 million patients need about 1.25 t)
- HS 293790, 293499
 Fine chemicals · Pharmaceutical · Foundation · Matter

Weight-loss drugs like semaglutide are built one amino acid at a time, using about 13,000 kg of materials per kilo.

Chart: Illustration: Peptides and oligonucleotides

##### Where it comes from

Chart: Map of where it comes from

Each chain is built on a polymer resin, one unit per cycle; a 50-residue peptide needs 50 rounds of coupling and washing before HPLC purification.

##### Three things to know

1. Ozempic sold $13.8 billion and Mounjaro $5.16 billion in 2023, driving a rush for peptide manufacturing capacity.
2. Every 10 million patients on 2.4 mg weekly semaglutide need only about 1.25 t of API a year.
3. Samsung Biologics bid about CHF 1.46 billion for PolyPeptide in July 2026 to enter the peptide business.

##### The journey

1. 1 **Building blocks**Protected amino acids and phosphoramidites
2. 2 **Chain assembly**One unit added per cycle on resin
3. 3 **Cleavage**Cut from resin with trifluoroacetic acid
4. 4 **Purification**Preparative HPLC using large solvent volumes
5. 5 **Medicines**GLP-1 drugs, hormones, siRNA therapies

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## Other sections

- [Overview](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/peptides_oligos/overview/index.md)
- [Correlation](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/peptides_oligos/correlation/index.md)
- [Production route](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/peptides_oligos/routes/index.md)
- [Production](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/peptides_oligos/production/index.md)
- [Feedstocks](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/peptides_oligos/feedstocks/index.md)
- [Cycles](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/peptides_oligos/cycles/index.md)
- [Trading](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/peptides_oligos/trading/index.md)
- [Movement](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/peptides_oligos/movement/index.md)
- [Regulation](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/peptides_oligos/regulation/index.md)
- [Characteristics](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/peptides_oligos/characteristics/index.md)
- [Emissions](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/peptides_oligos/emissions/index.md)
- [Relationships](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/peptides_oligos/links/index.md)