Cambridge Healthtech Institute’s 3rd Annual
Display of Antibodies

Empowering Novel Biologics

31 October - 1 November 2016 | EPIC SANA Lisboa Hotel | Lisboa PORTUGAL

Display of antibodies is the engine responsible for the proliferation of novel constructs that are advancing into clinical studies. This meeting will showcase the latest technologies and applications including antibody generation, targeting ion channels and GPCRs, engineering antibodies against immunotherapy targets, phenotypic screening and enhancing developability. Learn how the experts have made significant progress and uncover innovative approaches for improving library design and biophysical properties of biologics, as well as gain insight from a heightened understanding of the immune system.

Scientific Advisory Board

Kerry Chester, Ph.D., Professor, Molecular Medicine, University College London Cancer Institute

Claire Dobson, Ph.D., Associate Director, Antibody Discovery & Protein Engineering, MedImmune Ltd

John McCafferty, Ph.D., Co-Founder, Director and CEO, IONTAS Ltd

Ahuva Nissim, Ph.D., Reader, Molecular Targeting, Biochemical Pharmacology, William Harvey Research Institute, Queen Mary University of London

Final Agenda

Day 1 | Day 2 | Speaker Biographies | Download Brochure

MONDAY 31 OCTOBER

12:00 Registration

15:50 Refreshment Break in the Exhibit Hall with Poster Viewing

USING DISPLAY TO ADVANCE IMMUNOTHERAPY

16:50 Chairperson’s Remarks

Kerry Chester, Ph.D., Professor, Molecular Medicine, University College London Cancer Institute

16:55 FEATURED PRESENTATION: Optimisation of Chimeric Antigen Receptors for T Cell Cancer Therapy

Martin Pule, Ph.D., Clinical Senior Lecturer, University College London

17:25 Combinatorial Display in Development of T Cell Vaccines

Andrew Sewell, Ph.D., Professor, Division of Infection and Immunity, Cardiff University School of Medicine

Several uses of combinatorial display will be described including: (1) Quantification of extremely high levels of T-cell cross-reactivity, (2) Definition of causal epitopes/pathogens during autoimmune disease, (3) Generation of optimal epitopes for given T-cell clonotypes, (4) Ligand discovery for dominant ‘orphan’ T-cell clones following successful tumour-infiltrating lymphocyte therapy for malignant melanoma and, (5) Generation of acid and protease stable non-biologic T-cell ligands that can be orally administered. These exciting studies are providing new ubiquitous targets for cancer vaccination and open up the possibility of oral vaccination and/or induction of tolerance.

17:55 Development and Validation of llamdA, a Synthetic Domain Antibody Library

Guy Hermans, Ph.D., CSO, Isogenica Ltd.

llamdA is a synthetic library design based on natural camelid antibody repertoire analysis, manufactured to the highest fidelity standards using Isogenica’s COLIBRA library synthesis technology. The use of CIS cell-free display technology allows for the selection of libraries with orders of magnitude greater diversity than competing technologies. We will discuss various validation studies where a high diversity of low single digit nanomolar binders could be rapidly isolated to different therapeutically relevant targets.

18:25 Welcome Reception in the Exhibit Hall with Poster Viewing

19:25 End of Day

Day 1 | Day 2 | Speaker Biographies | Download Brochure

TUESDAY 1 NOVEMBER

07:45 Registration and Morning Coffee

USING DISPLAY TO ADVANCE IMMUNOTHERAPY (CONT.)

08:30 Chairperson’s Remarks

Kerry Chester, Ph.D., Professor, Molecular Medicine, University College London Cancer Institute

08:40 How Display and Signaling of CAR Molecules Can Be Used to Redirect the Specificity of Human T Cells

Hinrich Abken, Ph.D., Professor, Genetics & Immunology, Center for Molecular Medicine Cologne, University of Cologne

Adoptive therapy with engineered T-cells with an antigen-specific chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) is achieving impressive efficacy in early phase trials, in particular in hematologic malignancies, strongly supporting the notion that the immune system can control cancer. Such CAR T-cells can substantially reduce the tumor burden as long as the targeted antigen is present on the cancer cells and recognized by the antibody domain of the CAR.

09:10 Inclusion of Strep-Tag II in Design of Antigen Receptors

Stanley R. Riddell, M.D., Professor, Immunology & Clinical Research, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Institute

09:40 Problem-Solving Breakout Discussions

Feeding the Pipeline: How Will the Next Generation of Targets Be Identified and What Challenges Are Anticipated?
Moderator: Catherine Hutchings, Ph.D., Consultant, Antibody Alliance Management & Strategic Partnering, Heptares Therapeutics Ltd (confirmed)
• Genomics discovery of new targets
• New biology/understanding target interactions
• Intractable targets
• New combinations

Development of Next Generation Treatment for Arthritic Conditions
Moderator: Ahuva Nissim, Ph.D., Reader, Molecular Targeting, Biochemical Pharmacology, William Harvey Research Institute, Queen Mary University of London (confirmed)
• What are the unmet needs of the current treatment?
• Systemic vs targeting treatment?
• What are the possible targets?
• How can targeted treatment improve response rate and maintain remission?
• How can we apply it to other disease?

10:40 Coffee Break in the Exhibit Hall with Poster Viewing

ANTIBODIES TO GPCRs AND ION CHANNELS

11:15 Chairperson’s Remarks

John McCafferty, Ph.D., Co-Founder, Director and CEO, IONTAS Ltd

11:20 Using Stabilised Receptors as Antigens to Generate Therapeutic Antibodies to GPCRs

Catherine Hutchings, Ph.D., Consultant, Antibody Alliance Management & Strategic Partnering, Heptares Therapeutics Ltd.

Stabilized receptors offer a breakthrough solution to the central challenge of reliably making pharmacologically active antibodies against GPCRs. They enable the production of purified, properly folded and functional protein when removed from the cell membrane for use as an antigen. This presentation provides several examples that provide important validation of this solution, including data from our MorphoSys and AstraZeneca collaborations, demonstrating that StaR antigens preserve biologically relevant epitopes. This enables the generation of diverse panels of functional antibodies directed to this important target class for use as therapeutics.

11:50 Pathological Autoantibodies to Ion Channels

Angela C. Vincent, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus, Neuroimmunology, Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford

For many years it was thought that the blood brain barrier prevented antibodies or B cells reaching the brain. Over the last 15 years it has become very clear that they can. The talk will show how many rare but treatable diseases of the nervous system are associated with autoantibodies to neuronal proteins, and emphasise the importance of testing for binding to extracellular domains on native proteins, or of establishing quicker and cheaper methods for routine testing and searching for new antibodies.

12:20 Deeper Profiling of Antibodies During High Throughput Antibody Discovery

Niccolo Pengo, Ph.D., Senior Scientist, UCB-Celltech

UCB’s antibody discovery platform allows efficient mining of the natural antibody repertoire to identify novel therapeutic molecules. We will present our efforts to identify such properties earlier in the screening cascade to facilitate isolation of the rarest B cell clones producing the desired antibody.

12:35 Protein-Protein Docking with Sequential Coarse-Grained Minimization

Nels Thorsteinson, MSc, Scientific Services Manager, Biologics, Chemical Computing Group

Protein-protein docking is an important tool for predicting affinity, optimizing properties and exploring druggable sites. This work presents a novel protein docking method for predicting protein-protein binding. The output protein poses are shown to produce high-quality structures. The applicability of the docking program to antibody optimization will also be discussed.

12:50 Luncheon Presentation (Sponsorship Opportunity Available) or Enjoy Lunch on Your Own

13:20 Session Break

14:00 Dessert Break in the Exhibit Hall with Poster Viewing

COMPETITIVE TECHNOLOGIES FOR IMMUNOTHERAPY AGAINST MAJOR AUTOIMMUNE DISEASE

14:30 Chairperson’s Remarks

Ahuva Nissim, Ph.D., Reader, Molecular Targeting, Biochemical Pharmacology, William Harvey Research Institute, Queen Mary University of London

14:35 DIPIC: Di-Iodotyrosinated Peptide Imaging of Cartil

Ngee Han Lim, Ph.D., Research Fellow, Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology, University of Oxford

The insensitive nature of X-ray based imaging techniques precludes the use of antibodies to obtain targeted radiocontrast agent which can serve as imaging biomarkers for diseases such as osteoarthritis. In a generalisable method for other targeting peptides, the peptide identified by phage display to target the type II collagen present in cartilage was modified to carry out preclinical in vivo DIPIC using micro-computed tomography (micro-CT). The ease and speed of this modification should spark a renaissance in the development of contrast agents based on peptides for the widely used CT imaging modality.

15:05 Overview on the Current Antibody Treatment of Multiple Sclerosis

David Baker, Ph.D., Professor, Neuroimmonology, Centre for Neuroscience and Trauma, Blizard Institute, Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry

Multiple sclerosis is a putative autoimmune disease of the central nervous system that is characterised pathologically by inflammation, demyelination and variable degrees of axonal loss. Numerous immunomodulatory therapies have been licensed, or are in late stage development, to treat multiple sclerosis including several monoclonal antibodies. Dissecting out the mode of action of the targeted monoclonal antibodies is providing interesting insights into the pathogenesis of MS.

15:35 Targeted-Cytokines for the Treatment of Rheumatoid Arthritis

Mattia Matasci, Ph.D., Head, Cell Line Development, Philochem

Antibody-cytokine fusion proteins (immunocytokines) are being mainly developed for cancer therapy applications. However, certain immuno-modulatory cytokine payloads can also be considered for the treatment of patients with chronic inflammatory conditions. I will present work of the Philogen group, in collaboration with the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH Zürich), which has led to the development of potent immunocytokines for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis.

15:50 Targeting Therapeutic and Regenerative Biomedicine Specifically to Arthritic Joints

Ahuva Nissim, Ph.D., Reader, Molecular Targeting, Biochemical Pharmacology, William Harvey Research Institute, Queen Mary University of London

We developed a panel of human scFv that bind specifically to collagen type II post-translationally modified by oxidants which: binds specifically to arthritic cartilage from patients with RA and OA or from murine models of inflammatory arthritis and OA, localises and target payload drug in the arthritic joints in a mouse model of arthritis (inflammatory and OA). Our development will have a significant impact on treatment of arthritic conditions.

16:05 F-star: Advancing Novel Bispecific Antibody Biologics using the iQue Screener Platform

Frederick Akele, Senior Research Associate, F-star Biotechnology Ltd

F-star develops novel bispecific antibodies (called mAb2) based on a unique modular approach. Using this cutting-edge technology, F-star is building a product pipeline focused on immuno-oncology. This talk will highlight the pivotal role the iQue Screener played in increasing the screening throughput of Fcab (antigen-binding Fc domain) candidates against several antigens.

16:35 Refreshment Break in the Exhibit Hall with Poster Viewing

ANTIBODY GENERATION

17:10 Chairperson’s Remarks

Claire Dobson, Ph.D., Associate Director, Antibody Discovery & Protein Engineering, MedImmune Ltd.

17:15 CDR-Restricted Engineering beyond Affinity Maturation

Orla Cunningham, Ph.D., Director GBT, Pfizer

CDR mutagenesis has been used successfully for many years across multiple display platforms for antibody affinity maturation. However, approaches to other aspects of antibody engineering, such as humanization, stability and solubility, tend to maintain the CDR loops and their interaction with antigen as sacrosanct. This talk will use a number of case studies to demonstrate that CDR-restricted engineering can be used for multi-parameter optimization with the benefit of maintaining 100% germline framework content.

17:45 Nanobodies as a Versatile and Clinically Validated Drug Platform

Antonin de Fougerolles, Ph.D., CSO, Ablynx

An outline of the Nanobody®platform and clinical experience will be presented. The flexibility of Nanobody formatting is used to create differentiated drugs, and examples of mono-specific and multi-specific Nanobody drugs will be shared.

18:15 Toward Single Cell Proteome Analysis Using Phage Display of Recombinant Antibodies

Peter Kristensen, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Molecular Engineering, Aarhus University

In recent years the importance of cellular heterogeneity has become increasingly clear. In developing therapies for important diseases, such as cancer, the ability to isolate and characterize rare cell populations will be important. We have advanced the phage display technology, thus allowing the isolation of specific antibodies binding to one or few identified cells in a heterogeneous mixture such as blood or a tissue section.

18:45 End of Display Of Antibodies

Day 1 | Day 2 | Speaker Biographies | Download Brochure

Conference Programs

• Display of Biologics
• Engineering Antibodies
• Machine Learning - Part 2

• Antibody-Based Therapies
• Emerging Targets & Approaches
• Membrane Protein Targets

• Safety & Efficacy
• Advancing Bispecifics
• Engineering Bispecifics

• Modulating the TME
• Innovative CAR T Therapy
• Next-Gen Immunotherapies

• Optimisation & Developability
• Analytical Characterisation
• Protein Stability & Formulation

• Data Science & Engineering
• Optimising Expression
• Process Development

• Intro to Machine Learning
• Machine Learning - Part 1
• Machine Learning - Part 2

• Antibody-based Therapies
• Engineering Conjugates
• Next-Gen Immunotherapies