Christian Heinis
Papers
1
Total Citations
44
H-Index
1
About
Christian Heinis is a leading figure in chemical biology and protein engineering, renowned for pioneering the development of bicyclic peptides as a new class of therapeutic molecules. His major contribution lies in creating a platform to generate constrained bicyclic peptides that combine the high affinity and specificity of antibodies with the small size and synthetic accessibility of peptides. This breakthrough has opened new avenues for targeting intracellular and extracellular proteins previously considered undruggable. Heinis’s work has had a profound impact, with his most cited papers, such as those on phage-encoded chemical libraries and bicyclic peptide inhibitors, accumulating thousands of citations. Notably, his research on "Phage-encoded combinatorial chemical libraries based on bicyclic peptides" (2010) has over 600 citations, and his studies on bicyclic peptide antagonists have been widely recognized. He also contributed to early work on antibody-directed enzyme prodrug therapy (ADEPT), engineering a thermostable human prolyl endopeptidase for targeted cancer treatment. A professor at EPFL, Heinis has received multiple awards for his innovative work, including the Swiss Chemical Society’s Sandmeyer Award, and his discoveries have been translated into clinical candidates through the spin-off company Bicycle Therapeutics.
Research Focus
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Top Papers
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