News and Press

By Karsten Eastman | January 19, 2026 Enzymes once viewed as rigid specialists are now being repurposed as modular tools, revealing latent chemical capabilities and enabling new approaches to molecule construction. Decades of enzymological research framed active sites as fussy and narrowly tuned, built to recognize one substrate and do one job. New research is […]

By Drug Target Review | 20 October 2025 Researchers have discovered an enzyme, PapB, that can ‘tie off’ therapeutic peptides into stable rings, which could help improve GLP-1 drugs for diabetes and obesity – making them more effective and longer lasting. Read full article here

PapB ‘ties off’ peptides, paving way for stronger, longer-lasting versions of medications used to treat obesity and diabetes. Chemistry researchers at the University of Utah have uncovered an enzyme, dubbed PapB, that can “tie off” therapeutic peptides—protein-like drugs—into tight rings, a process known as macrocyclization. This enzymatic trick could help drug developers make stronger, longer-lasting

GLP-1–pathway agonists such as semaglutide and newer multi-agonists have transformed care for obesity and diabetes, yet developers still wrestle with durability, tissue targeting, and signal “bias.” Macrocyclization, tying part of a peptide into a ring, can shield drugs from degradation and favor bioactive shapes, but conventional chemistry can be costly and hard to apply late

SALT LAKE CITY, UT, UNITED STATES, September 25, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ — Sethera Therapeutics, a biotechnology company advancing next-generation polymacrocyclic peptide therapeutics, today announced the appointment of two globally recognized scientists, Jeffery W. Kelly, PhD (Scripps Research), and Alexander M. Klibanov, PhD (MIT), to its Scientific Advisory Board (SAB). They join existing SAB member Dr. Robert Langer

Scientists from the University of Utah collaborated with the Utah-based Sethera Therapeutics to develop an “unexpected” enzymatic approach to therapeutic peptide design. The research team published their findings in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). Lead author Karsten Eastman and his colleagues describe how PapB – a naturally-occurring enzyme found in Paenibacillus polymyxa

A team of researchers from the University of Utah and Sethera Therapeutics has uncovered a powerful new way to build more stable and drug-like peptides, opening the door to medicines that could target diseases long considered “undruggable.” Their findings are published last week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. In the paper

The 2025 Wilson Sonsini Entrepreneur and Investor Life Sciences Summit (E&I Summit), presented by BioUtah and the University of Utah Technology Licensing Office will feature an impressive line-up of distinguished speakers, national and local investors, and numerous Utah life sciences startups. Now in its 12th year, the E&I Summit convenes Utah’s life sciences leaders, entrepreneurs,

Sethera Therapeutics Appoints Biotech Pioneer Dr. Robert Langer to Head and Chair the Scientific Advisory Board and Brigadier General Larry Lunt to Board of Directors