Why most peptides aren't taken as pills
Your digestive system treats peptides like food protein. Acid and enzymes (like pepsin and trypsin) cut the peptide bonds apart.
The pieces that survive are large and water-loving, so they struggle to cross the gut wall.
So oral bioavailability is very low — and most peptide drugs are injected. Oral semaglutide is a notable exception: it is co-formulated with an absorption enhancer called SNAC.
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Source:
• Drucker DJ. "Advances in oral peptide therapeutics." Nature Reviews Drug Discovery, 2020.