ImmunoPrecise Antibodies Ltd. announced compelling in vitro results demonstrating that its artificial intelligence (AI)-designed GLP-1 receptor agonist (GLP-1RA) peptide sequences achieve comparable or superior receptor activation to Semaglutide, a benchmark GLP-1 therapy and one of the most commercially successful drugs in the world. The in vitro analysis was conducted by an independent third party, further strengthening the objective and reliability of the findings. The results validate the power of IPA’s LENSai??
platform and its proprietary HYFT?? technology, which enables first-prin principles-based in silico peptide discovery and optimization. Five rationally engineered peptide sequences–AI-optimized for improved stability and peptidase resistance– were tested against benchmark GLP-1 analogs in receptor activation assays.
Two lead candidates outperformed or matched Semaglutide under controlled assays. Crucially, the sequences were not discovered by chance. They were designed using HYFT-derived intrinsic biological patterns–matmatical representations of functional relationships in biology–making this approach highly reproducible and generalizable to other drug targets.
With GLP-1 therapies representing one of the fastest-growing segments in the global pharmaceutical market, these results demonstrate that AI can now generate not only predictive but functionally validated peptide drugs, paving the way for rapid expansion into adjacent therapeutic areas using the same HYFT-driven approach. Non-invasive delivery strategies, including formulation work for transdermal patches and exploratory evaluation of nucleic acid-based delivery, designed to enhance durability, patient compliance, and ease of administration. The sequences were also engineered for compatibility with next-generation expression systems, including nucleic acid-based vectors, which support scalable expression in both traditional and emerging human-relevant models, aligning with evolving regulatory interest in more predictive, flexible, and efficient therapeutic development approaches.
The significance of this breakthrough extends far beyond GLP-1. The same AI framework and HYFT-driven approach that generated these potent peptide drugs can now be applied to other high-value therapeutic targets– quickly, efficiently, and with built-in biological relevance. This announcement follows IPA’s recent success with AI-designed dengue virus vaccine candidates, reinforcing the broad applicability of its technology across both infectious and non-infectious diseases.
