Explore the Agenda
7:30 am Check In & Registration
8:15 am Chair’s Opening Remarks
8:30 am Designing Ligand-Targeted Drugs for Treatment of Cancers, Autoimmune, Infectious & Fibrotic Diseases
- Exploring the use of small molecule targeting ligands to deliver attached drugs specifically to diseased cells, thereby improving their potencies and avoiding the unwanted toxicities that occur when they accumulate in healthy cells
- For this purpose, we have designed targeting ligands that are highly specific for distinct cancers, different autoimmune disorders, multiple fibrotic diseases, viruses and virus-infected cells, dysregulated immune cells, bone fractures, metabolically aberrant normal cells (e.g. hepatocytes, adipocytes, etc.) and several other cell types
- Applications of these targeting ligands to the design of precision medicines for imaging and therapy of many diseases will be summarized. Although three FDA-approved drugs from my lab will be briefly mentioned, most of the seminar will be devoted to the design of new drugs about to enter or already undergoing human clinical trials
Harnessing Degrader-Antibody Conjugates to Tackle Tumor Resistance & Widen the
Therapeutic Index
9:00 am Targeted PROTAC Delivery: Principles of Crafting PROTAC-ADCs & Self-Assembling PROxAb Shuttles
- Summarizing the current technological status of Degrader-ADCs, emphasizing the challenges in their generation
- Introducing the PROxAb Shuttle technology, which has the potential to expedite Degrader-ADC discovery
- Presenting data showcasing the practical application of the PROxAb Shuttle in vivo
9:30 am Exploring Novel Protein Degraders in Degrader-Antibody-Conjugates
- Leveraging targeted protein degradation to expand therapeutic reach
- Differentiated MOA compared to existing ADC payloads
- Designing linkers to maximize therapeutic window
10:00 am Speed Networking
The ideal opportunity to get face-to-face with many of the brightest minds in bioconjugate development, get to know the current state-of-play in the field and form new connections for important in-depth conversations.
10:45 am Morning Break
11:00 am Showcasing KRas Degrader-Antibody Conjugates as a Therapeutic Approach for Treating KRas Driven Colorectal Cancer
- Exploring how KRas degraders offer more complete KRas inhibition compared to small molecule inhibitors.
- Showing how KRas degrader-Certuximab conjugate has unique advantages in treating KRas driven colorectal cancer
- Highlighting Polymed’s KRas degrader and degrader-antibody conjugates demonstrated preclinical proof-of-concept
11:30 am Degrader Antibody–Drug Conjugates (DACs): Redefining Payload Design for Precision-Engineered Biotherapeutics
- Chimeric degraders, by leveraging the ubiquitin–proteasome system, can substantially enhance the potency of traditional small-molecule inhibitors, advancing from sub-micromolar to sub-nanomolar efficacy. This capability significantly broadens the accessible payload target space and enables the precision engineering of novel therapeutic payloads
- DACs exhibit internalization-dependent cellular target degradation and robust inhibition of cell proliferation in vitro, demonstrating a powerful mechanism of action that couples targeted delivery with intracellular protein degradation
- DACs are able to display favorable ADME characteristics, potent in vivo antitumor activity with reduced toxicities, underscoring their potential as next-generation precision therapeutics
12:00 pm Lunch
Advancing Small-Format Conjugates to
Improve Tumor Penetration & Unlock Success in New Indications
1:00 pm Showcasing A Novel CD47-Targeted Protein Drug Conjugate with Broad Anti-Tumor Activity in Diverse Models
- Engineering a CD47 ligand as a selective tumor-targeting moiety
- Demonstrating potent in vitro and in vivo efficacy of KBA651 across diverse cancer models
- Evaluating pharmacokinetics and safety to support translational studies
1:30 pm Improving Delivery Efficiency & Unlocking New Indications Through Antibody-Fragment Conjugates
- Antikor’s platform for recombinant antibody fragments optimized for developability and payload bioconjugation
- Process for Antibody Fragment Drug Conjugate (FDC) discovery, tailoring the linker-payload
- Update on ANT-045, our lead FDC program for cMET-expressing solid tumours
- An insight into Antikor’s follow up projects
2:00 pm Panel Discussion: Comparing the Benefits & Limitations of a ‘Fast In, Fast Out’ Approach
- Discussing the impact of small format conjugates on PK profiles
- Discussing how linker selection can impact the overall performance of small format conjugates
- Highlighting their potential vs their pitfalls for tumor types which are resistant to ADCs
2:00 pm Afternoon Break & Scientific Poster Presentation
This is an informal session to help you connect with your peers in a relaxed atmosphere and forge new and beneficial relationships. With an audience of bioconjugate experts looking to stay on top of this new and evolving space, you will have the opportunity to display a poster presenting your own work. Additionally, you will have the chance to review others’ posters displaying cutting-edge work from drug discovery right through to exciting clinical trial updates.
Differentiating Bispecific ADCs By Unlocking Functional Synergy & Mechanistic Clarity
3:30 pm Beyond Binary: Unlocking the Potential of Bispecific ADCs
- Smarter Targeting with V-gate: How logic gating enhances selectivity and safety in bsADC development
- Discovery Innovation: Valink’s unique approach to identifying synergistic target pairs that unlock superior payload delivery and therapeutic windows
- Pipeline Snapshot: A look at Valink’s current development programs and how these breakthroughs are shaping the next generation of conjugate therapies
4:00 pm Conditional Logic-Gated Bispecific ADCs: Harnessing Novel Dual Antigen Fingerprints to Expand Efficacy & Minimize On-Target/Off-Tissue Toxicity
- Conditional logic-gated bispecific ADCs offer a next-generation strategy for precise tumor targeting and improved efficacy in heterogeneous cancers
- By exploiting unique dual-antigen expression fingerprints, they enable selective payload delivery to malignant cells, enhancing potency while minimizing on-target/off-tissue toxicity
- Highlighting key design principles, preclinical validation, and translational insights demonstrating how logic-gated ADCs can overcome the limitations of conventional ADCs and expand therapeutic opportunities across difficult-to-treat tumors
4:30 pm Multispecific Drug Conjugates Combat Tumor Heterogeneity & Resistance
- Scientific rationale for TwoStep Therapeutics’ multi-specific targeting agent “PIP” and how it enables broad applicability across solid tumors
- Preclinical development of PIP-drug conjugates, their efficacy and safety, and comparison to clinical benchmarks
- Comparing the data from a single vs multi-targeted approach to highlight the rationale of multi-specific targeting