Day 1 | Day 2
WEDNESDAY, 12 OCTOBER
13:00 Conference Registration
14:00 Chairperson’s Remarks
Markus Thomas, Ph.D., Research Scientist, Pharma Research & Early Development, Discovery Oncology, Roche Diagnostics GmbH
KEYNOTE PRESENTATION
14:05 From Bench to Clinic: Experiences with Cytokine-Antibody Fusion Proteins
 Dario Neri, Ph.D., Professor, Chemistry and Applied Biosciences, ETH Zurich - Biography
Antibodies can be used to deliver cytokines to sites of disease (e.g., to the tumor environment), thus enabling therapeutic interventions which spare normal tissues. The antibody-based targeting of tumor neo-vasculature is particularly attractive, because of the dependence of cancer on new blood vessels and because of the accessibility of these structures from the blood-stream. Pre-clinical and clinical results obtained with vascular targeting immunocytokines will be presented in this lecture.
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14:35 Development of a Novel anti-CD37 Single-Chain Mono-Specific Polypeptide Drug for the Treatment of B-Cell Malignancies
Paul Algate, Ph.D., Director, Non-Clinical Research, Emergent Biosolutions - Biography
TRU-016 is a novel humanized anti-CD37 small modular immunopharmaceutical (SMIPTM) molecule that mediates direct and indirect killing of normal and malignant B-cells. Pre-clinical data will be presented demonstrating mechanisms of action and combinatorial activity with other therapeutics. The status of clinical studies investigating the therapeutic potential of TRU-016 against B-cell malignancies will be discussed.
15:05 Pre-Clinical Development of Fc-Domain Optimized Monoclonal Antibodies with Increased Anti-Tumor Activity
Ezio Bonvini, M.D., Senior Vice President, Research, Macrogenics, Inc. - Biography
There is strong rationale for engineering the Fc domain of monoclonal antibodies to enhance Fc-dependent effector functions. Pre-clinical validation of Fc-optimized antibodies, however, presents challenges in efficacy evaluation, safety assessment and pharmacology. This case study will address potential solutions from our experience in the development of two Fc-optimized monoclonal antibodies for cancer treatment, including engineering, in vitro characterization, in vivo tumor modelling and pre-clinical toxicology in non-human primates.
15:35 Refreshment Break - Networking with Sponsors
16:15 Targeting of Viral Particles and Selection Technologies
Kristian Müller, Ph.D., Principal Investigator, Biochemistry & Biology, Syntbio, University of Potsdam
Engineering viral particles and their genetic cargo provides multi-level control by i) receptor targeting, ii) transcriptional targeting, and iii) prodrug dosage. Following synthetic biology standards, we generated a modular construction kit for recombinant Adeno Associated Viruses (rAAV) comprising several capsid modifications by peptide insertions as well as N-terminal fusions with an Affibody and DARPin. We achieved EGF-R specific targeting, delivery of thymidine kinase (TK) and cytosine Deaminase (CD), and prodrug-mediated cell killing.
16:45 Calicheamicin Antibody-Drug Conjugates and Beyond
Puja Sapra, Ph.D., Director, Bioconjugates, Oncology Research, Pfizer, Inc. - Biography
CMC-544 (inotuzumab ozogamicin), an anti-CD22-calicheamicin conjugate, is currently being evaluated in B-cell non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (B-NHL) patients. This presentation will provide the mechanism of action of calicheamicin immunoconjugates with focus on pre-clinical and clinical data on CMC-544. Further, pre-clinical data for a novel antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) targeting cancer stem cells will be discussed. Challenges in ADC development and potential strategies to overcome these challenges will be reviewed.
17:15 Advances in Linker and Payload Technology
Ravi Chari, Ph.D., Executive Director, Chemistry & Biochemistry, Immunogen, Inc. - Biography
Multiple antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) made with ImmunoGen’s maytansinoid cell killing agents are undergoing clinical evaluation. ImmunoGen has developed approaches to tailor each maytansinoid conjugate to achieve the best performance for the specific cancer target. Incorporation of new polar linkers has resulted in antibody-maytansinoid conjugates with enhanced potency towards multidrug resistant tumors in pre-clinical models. The presentation will highlight advances in linker design and new effector molecules for ADCs.
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18:00 Keynote Introduction
18:05 Protein Engineering: Benefiting Therapeutic Proteins and Small Molecule Drugs Alike
 Andreas Plueckthun, Ph.D., Professor, Biochemical Institute, University of Zurich
18:40 'Systems Patientomics': The Future of Medicine
 Hans Lehrach, Ph.D., Director & Head, Vertebrate Genomics, Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics
Ten years after the completion of the human genome in a ten year international collaboration at a cost of between 1 and 3 billion Dollar, we are now getting ready to be able to sequence genomes/ transcriptomes as part of routine medical practice in oncology. The flagship project IT Future of Medicine would extend this approach to generate integrated anatomical/molecular models of every patient in the healthcare system, as the basis for a data rich, computation intensive, individualized medicine of the future.
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19:15 – 21:00 CHI Networking Dinner Reception