Musings from The Power List: Ali Tavassoli

Ali Tavassoli explains how cyclic peptides and new discovery tools are opening up once-inaccessible biology

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Ali Tavassoli received the Royal Society of Chemistry's Interdisciplinary Prize and was named on the Medicine Maker Power List 2025.
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The biopharma industry is expanding its definition of druggable targets, including previously inaccessible proteins and interactions.
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A significant bottleneck in drug development is the mismatch between scientific timelines and venture capital funding cycles.
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Tavassoli argues that the belief that peptides cannot be oral drugs is outdated, citing advancements in cyclic peptide design.
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He advocates for stronger pull incentives to address market failures in drug development for areas like antimicrobial resistance.

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