Aussie firm Proteomics International said this week it has developed a new peptide drug-discovery process based on venom from scorpions, spiders, and centipedes.

Called Bioven, the process is a new way to validate potential peptide drug candidates. It combines mass spectrometry with proprietary algorithms "to determine peptide identity and to predict, by homology matching, the function of the peptides," the company said in a statement.