CDT-Pep'd SAFE Note: Platform-Level Market Bet With Zero Asset-Level Evidence to Anchor It

CDT Invests in Pep'd, Enters US Peptide Market

CDT Equity Inc. announced an investment in Pep'd Inc., a US-based peptide company, through a SAFE note. This strategic move expands CDT's presence in the growing US peptide market, which was valued at USD 140.9 billion in 2025 and is projected to reach USD 294.6 billion by 2033. The investment aligns with CDT's strategy of backing high-potential, science-driven assets and leveraging AI-enabled platforms for therapeutic discovery and development. Pep'd combines telehealth access with in-house research and compounding capabilities, and has already begun generating revenue.

• CDT Equity Inc. has made a strategic investment in Pep'd Inc. via a SAFE note, aiming to expand its footprint in the rapidly growing US peptide market. This move is consistent with CDT's broader strategy of identifying and supporting science-driven assets and utilizing AI-enabled platforms for drug discovery and development.
• The global peptide therapeutics market is experiencing significant growth, valued at USD 140.9 billion in 2025 and projected to nearly double to USD 294.6 billion by 2033, with an 8.7% CAGR. CDT's investment provides a capital-efficient way to gain exposure to this expanding sector, complementing its existing strategies of licensing and M&A.
• Pep'd Inc. operates a vertically integrated model, combining telehealth services across all 50 U.S. states with in-house research and compounding capabilities for peptide-based products. The company also leverages machine learning to analyze clinical outcomes data, informing its research priorities and aiming to build a portfolio of intellectual property.

Addressing Unmet Needs Driving Investment in Peptide Therapeutics

Peptide-based therapeutics have emerged as a versatile platform addressing a broad spectrum of high-burden, clinically underserved conditions. Investment is accelerating across disease areas where conventional small molecules and biologics have faced efficacy, selectivity, or delivery limitations.

• Antimicrobial Resistance: Peptide therapeutics are targeting multidrug-resistant bacterial and fungal infections, including linezolid-resistant and methicillin-resistant S. aureus and the multidrug-resistant pathogen Candida auris. Random peptide mixtures demonstrating broad-spectrum activity, alongside aminovinyl-(methyl)cysteine-containing peptide antibiotics such as massatide A — which exhibits a minimum inhibitory concentration of 0.25 μg/mL against gram-positive pathogens — represent active areas of development in this space.

• Oncology: Peptide-drug conjugates are being engineered to address metastatic triple-negative breast cancer, a malignancy defined by tumor heterogeneity and a paucity of targeted treatment options. This approach enables precise drug delivery to tumor sites, improving antitumor efficacy while limiting off-target toxicity to healthy tissues.

• Metabolic Disorders: GLP-1 receptor agonists and next-generation dual- and multi-agonist peptide therapeutics are targeting obesity and type 2 diabetes mellitus, with several investigational molecules nearing regulatory approval. These multi-receptor agonists are designed to enable simultaneous receptor activation for enhanced and more durable metabolic control.

• Neurodegenerative Disorders: Peptide-based approaches are under active investigation for Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and traumatic brain injury. Peptide-nanoparticle conjugates have demonstrated improved blood-brain barrier penetration in preclinical models, with associated reductions in amyloid-beta aggregation and inhibition of tau hyperphosphorylation. GLP-1 receptor agonists are also being explored for their neuroprotective potential in central nervous system injury and recovery.

• Expanding Indications: Ongoing clinical trials are evaluating GLP-1-based therapeutics in emerging indications beyond established metabolic disease, including metabolic liver disease and peripheral artery disease, reflecting the breadth of unmet need this modality is positioned to address.

Pep'd's AI-Driven Approach to Emerging Peptide Targets

Peptide-based therapeutics are rapidly expanding beyond single-target paradigms, with recent research demonstrating sophisticated multi-receptor engagement strategies and precision tumor-directed approaches. Across both metabolic disease and oncology, novel targets are being exploited to enhance efficacy, selectivity, and therapeutic breadth.

Metabolic Disease: Multi-Receptor Agonism

• Dual GLP-1R/GCGR agonists — including peptide 15, MEDI0382, and SAR425899 — simultaneously engage glucagon and GLP-1 receptors to improve glycemic control and drive weight loss with complementary mechanisms

• Dual GLP-1R/GIPR modulators — exemplified by maridebart cafraglutide — combine GLP-1 receptor agonism with GIP receptor agonism or antagonism to augment metabolic outcomes

• Triple agonists such as retatrutide target GIP, GLP-1, and glucagon receptors concurrently, while first-in-class tetra-agonists extend activity to the Y2 receptor (Y2R), overcoming sequence constraints between class A and class B GPCR families

• Glucagon co-agonists survodutide and mazdutide leverage glucagon receptor engagement to deliver significant weight loss alongside improved glycemic control

• Amylin-based combinations — including CagriSema (cagrilintide + semaglutide) and amycretin — enhance satiety and glycemic outcomes through complementary, mechanistically distinct actions

Oncology: Intracellular and Tumor-Directed Targets

• p53-MDM2/MDMX disruption — peptides fused to human serum albumin (HSA) inhibit this intracellular protein-protein interaction, driving p53 accumulation and downstream cytotoxicity via caspase activation

• Transcription factor NF-Y is targeted by stapled α-helical peptides, enabling access to a previously undruggable nuclear target involved in gene regulation

• Dual-receptor peptide-drug conjugates targeting CXCR4 and folate receptor 1 (FOLR1) deliver Monomethyl Auristatin E (MMAE) for synergistic inhibition of tumor growth and metastasis in triple-negative breast cancer

• Fibroblast activation protein (FAP) — highly expressed across the stroma of most solid malignancies — is engaged by non-internalizing OncoFAP ligands conjugated to cytotoxic payloads via FAP-cleavable linkers, enabling tumor microenvironment-selective drug release

The Rapidly Evolving Landscape of Peptide Therapeutics

The treatment landscape for peptide-based therapeutics has undergone substantial transformation over the past five years, driven by high-profile regulatory approvals, expanding clinical indications, and a growing pipeline of novel molecular entities. The approval of oral semaglutide (Rybelsus®) by the FDA, EMA, and PMDA marked a pivotal milestone, representing the culmination of over 30 years of drug delivery research underpinned by Emisphere's Eligen™ technology. This was validated through the PIONEER clinical programme — comprising ten Phase 3 trials — which demonstrated that the oral formulation achieved glycaemic efficacy comparable to the injectable form while outperforming competitor agents on blood glucose reduction and weight loss. Broader market dynamics reflect this momentum: approximately 100 peptides have now attained clinical approval in major markets, with nearly half of those approvals occurring within the past two decades, and the global peptide therapeutics market is projected to exceed USD 50 billion by 2024.

The GLP-1 receptor agonist (GLP-1RA) class has been particularly transformative, with liraglutide, semaglutide, and tirzepatide now FDA-approved for obesity and representing the most clinically significant peptide approvals of recent years. Published trial data confirm dose-dependent weight reductions across agents — semaglutide 2.4 mg/week achieving −14.9% to −15.2%, tirzepatide up to −18.5%, and dual GIP/GLP-1 therapy reaching −21.5% — alongside meaningful cardiometabolic improvements including HbA1c reductions of up to −1.78%, systolic blood pressure reductions of −5.28 to −7.8 mmHg, and LDL-C decreases of up to −11 mg/dL. Safety profiles across this class are characterised by predominantly mild-to-moderate gastrointestinal adverse events — nausea (14.7–62%), diarrhoea (5–34.9%), and vomiting (3–30.3%) — with serious events including pancreatitis and gallbladder complications remaining rare and treatment discontinuation generally below 15%. Looking ahead, GLP-1RAs are anticipated to receive FDA approval by 2025 for additional indications including chronic kidney disease, heart failure with preserved ejection fraction, and metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis, with pivotal data anticipated for orforglipron, mazdutide, retatrutide, survodutide, and CagriSema further expanding the competitive and therapeutic landscape.

Beyond metabolic disease, the past five years have seen meaningful advances in peptide drug delivery technology, novel conjugate development, and theranostic applications. Multiarm PEGylation strategies have substantially improved the therapeutic window of cytotoxic peptides such as melittin, increasing IC values approximately 20-fold while enhancing serum stability. Peptide-drug conjugate approaches — exemplified by PTX-RPPR, a paclitaxel conjugate incorporating a neuropilin-1 targeting peptide — have demonstrated compelling preclinical efficacy, achieving tumour growth inhibition at a fivefold lower molar dose than native paclitaxel with superior prevention of lung metastasis in a 4T1 mammary carcinoma model. Concurrently, radiolabelled peptides are gaining traction beyond oncology, with growing applications in cardiac imaging, rheumatology, and neurology — leveraging the same peptide scaffold for both diagnostic imaging and targeted therapy through radionuclide substitution. Collectively, these developments underscore the broadening scientific and commercial relevance of peptide therapeutics across multiple disease domains.