Academic CNS research lab qualified a custom peptide for in vivo studies in 7 weeks
A US-based academic neuroscience lab studying a novel cognitive-pathway peptide needed bulk-scale material qualified for rodent intranasal administration. The custom-synthesis workflow ran from sequence brief to validated commercial-scale batch in 7 weeks.
Published May 10, 2026 · Anonymized customer story
Sequence brief → commercial batch
7 weeks
Pilot batch validation time
4 business days
Measured HPLC purity
≥99.2%
Endotoxin spec
<0.1 EU/mg
Challenge
The lab had published an early in vitro paper on a novel 11-amino-acid peptide hypothesized to modulate a specific neuropeptide receptor in cognitive-pathway research. The next experimental phase required in vivo rodent studies with intranasal administration over a 12-week dosing protocol, substantially more material than the lab's in-house custom-synthesis core could produce on the experimental timeline. The Principal Investigator needed reliable bulk-scale material at ≥99.0% HPLC with documented endotoxin and microbial-limit testing on the specific batch, plus sequence verification by LC-MS/MS because the molecule wasn't in any reference database.
Approach
PeptideXpo's R&D team countersigned a mutual NDA within one business day of the sequence brief. Pilot synthesis ran at 500 mg gram-scale with the full analytical packet (HPLC at ≥99.2% measured purity, ESI mass spec confirming the modified mass within 0.3 Da of theoretical, LC-MS/MS sequence verification covering the full b- and y-ion ladder, LAL endotoxin at <0.1 EU/mg, USP <61>/<62> microbial limits). The lab's in-house QC accepted the pilot batch in 4 business days. Commercial-scale production of 10 g material ran in parallel against the buyer's validation timeline. Both batches were stability-monitored over the in vivo dosing protocol period to confirm potency consistency.
Outcome
Total elapsed time from sequence brief to validated commercial-scale material: 7 weeks (3 weeks pilot + 4 weeks commercial production). The in vivo study ran on schedule and the lab's subsequent publication referenced PeptideXpo as the bulk-active supplier with documented endotoxin and microbial-limit specifications, which the journal's methodology section had flagged as a non-negotiable disclosure requirement.
“Sequence verification by LC-MS/MS was the test that mattered for us, for an 11-mer that wasn't in any reference database, mass alone left too much identity ambiguity for the IACUC-reviewed protocol. Tandem MS coverage of the full ion ladder was exactly what our methodology section needed.”