David Baker (L) and Sabah Öney
David Baker’s lab and ARCH sprout Lord of the Rings-inspired macrocycle biotech
For drugs to succeed as pills, they have to meet a few requirements. First, they have to be able to brave the gnawing acids of the gut. Second, they have to survive the protein-butchering proteases. And third, they have to permeate through the gut lining to get into the bloodstream.
However, when it comes to macrocycles — these wonky chemical rings (heme, the building block of red blood cells, is one example) — only a few fulfill that third step, limiting their development into oral drugs.
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