Antibody Therapeutics Xchange
East Coast, Boston
May 16, 2022
Welcome to hubXchange’s East Coast Antibody Therapeutics Xchange 2022, bringing together executives from pharma and biotech to address and find solutions to the key issues faced in developing antibody therapeutics, through a series of roundtable discussions.
Discussion topics will cover Target Selection, Lead Identification & Optimization, Formats & Scaffolds, Bi/Multi-Specifics and Emerging Technologies.
Take advantage of this unique highly interactive meeting format designed for maximum engagement and collaboration with your peers.
Please note this is an In-Person meeting with a hybrid option to join virtually.
VENUE DETAILS: Hilton Boston Woburn Hotel, 2 Forbes Road, Woburn
Target Selection
Opening Address & Keynote: Rapid In Vivo Antibody Discovery with Broad Epitopic Diversity using Beacon-Based Single B Cell Workflow
Discovery of functional therapeutic monoclonal antibodies against GPCR and ion channels has been a challenge. We have developed an efficient in-vivo antibody discovery platform using our hyperimmune mice by streamlining Beacon-based single B cell screening, hybridoma screening, and downstream hit expansion workflow for deep repertoire mining and epitope diversity. A case study featuring a therapeutic antibody discovery campaign targeting a cell surface receptor using a single B cell workflow with broad epitopic diversity will be presented.
Director, Antibody Characterization, Abveris
Vishal (Vish) has extensive experience in the discovery and development of next generation biotherapeutics that would transform the lives of millions. Before joining Twist Bioscience, Vish worked in Regeneron Pharmaceuticals for 12 years where he supported discovery of monoclonal and bispecific antibodies for 100+ targets spanning Immunology, Inflammation, Oncology, Immuno-Oncology, Neuroscience, Cardiovascular, Skeletal, Metabolic, and Infectious diseases. His efforts resulted in three approved drugs – DUPIXENT®, LIBTAYO® and Evkeeza® and 20 clinical drug candidates.He earned his Ph.D. from Drexel University and proposed that the use of biparatopic EGFR antibodies would be a potent biotherapeutic for EGFR overexpressing tumors. He likes to share his findings with the scientific community and has 15 peer-reviewed papers. He considers publication as his way of giving back to the scientific community.
Considerations and challenges guiding target selection in the development of antibody-based
therapeutics
- What are the key criteria for selecting an antigen target? What considerations should be taken into account for disease-associated antigens?
- What are the pros and cons of targeting cell surface receptors vs. ligand targets? In the context of cancer, what are the pros and cons of targeting over-expressed self-antigens, cancer germline antigens, and neoantigens?
- What antibody parameters should be considered when selecting an antigen target? Antibody affinity? Epitope? Internalization rate? Other?
- How does therapeutic modality influence target selection? (i.e. ADC, CAR-T, T-cell engager, conventional mAb)
Senior Director, External Innovation, Janssen Pharmaceuticals
As a senior member of the global External Innovation Team, Gadi has overall strategic and operational responsibility for scouting and evaluation of external opportunities across all biologic drug modalities.
Gadi has over twenty years of experience in oncology R&D with an emphasis in preclinical antibody discovery. He has led academic alliances as well as industry partnerships throughout his career. Prior to joining Janssen, Gadi was a Senior Director at TESARO, where he led and directed biologics discovery efforts in immuno-oncology. Before TESARO, Gadi held roles of increasing responsibility at Amgen Fremont Inc. (formerly Abgenix Inc.), AstraZeneca, Pfizer, and Novartis.
Gadi received his B.S. in biochemistry from the University of California, Davis and his Ph.D. in biochemistry from the University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine. He completed his postdoctoral training at Stanford University in the Division of Immunology and Rheumatology. He has authored numerous research papers, reviews, as well as book chapters, and is a co-inventor on multiple patents.
Lead Identification & Optimization Topic Common challenges of antibody discovery against different types of targets
- In vivo vs in vitro vs combined approach
- Humanization vs transgenic humanized mice
- Different single B cell workflows vs hybridoma antibody fragment
- Discovery for emerging modalities such as CAR-based therapeutics and multispecifics
Senior Director, R&D, Abveris
As the Senior Director of R&D Abveris/Twist Bioscience, Colby provides scientific leadership for the team to guide decisions and develop innovative strategies for successful delivery of each unique project. Before Abveris, he graduated with a Ph. D. in Cell and Molecular Biology from Texas A&M and directed antibody discovery and engineering programs at both MassBiologics of the University of Massachusetts Medical School and Kanyos Bio.
Spotlight Presentation: Fit-for-Purpose Therapeutic Antibody Discovery Utilizing the AlivaMab® Mouse Platform
AlivaMab Discovery Services’ (ADS) antibody discovery workflows are optimized for fast and efficient drug discovery and development for both standard and next generation antibody formats. To ensure success of every antibody discovery campaign, we implement custom immunization and screening strategies tailored to each set of antibody design goals. In this talk, examples of fit-for-purpose strategies will be presented.
Vice President, Antibody Discovery, AlivaMab Discovery Services
Jane received her PhD from Technion-Israel Institute of Technology and completed her post-doctoral training at Harvard Medical School. She has over a decade of experience in antibody discovery for biologics drug development using in vivo approaches. Prior to joining AlivaMab Discovery Services, Jane led the In Vivo Antibody Discovery team at AbbVie, where she introduced and implemented multiple technology platforms, including hybridoma automation and direct antibody cloning from human patient samples. Jane has led projects across diverse therapeutic areas and enabled antibody discovery campaigns resulting in several clinical candidate molecules.
- How can intratumoral myeloid cell heterogeneity best be deconvoluted to identify immunosuppressive subpopulations and therapeutic targets?
- Can targeting myeloid cells effectively address either primary or secondary resistance to current immunotherapies?
- Is repolarizing or depleting immunosuppressive myeloid cells more likely to have a therapeutic benefit?
- What myeloid cell-targeted therapies currently in clinical development show the most promise?
- Can myeloid-cell targeted therapies be effective as monotherapies, or are combination approaches necessary? If yes, how can the most effective combinations be identified?
Head of Exploratory Biology & External Innovation, HiFiBiO Therapeutics
Roshan Kumar is Senior Director of Head of Exploratory Biology & External Innovation at HiFiBiO Therapeutics, where his team works to identify novel immunomodulatory drug targets for the company’s internal pipeline. He previously worked to help develop the company’s single B cell screening microfluidic platform and apply it to discover antibacterial antibodies from patient samples. Roshan has more than 20 years experience in the study of complex biological systems, and received his PhD from the Scripps Research Institute and Bachelor’s degree from the California Institute of Technology. His postdoctoral studies were performed at the Whitehead Institute and Harvard Medical School.
- Utilizing flow cytometry as a highly versatile platform that offers increased accuracy in
identifying and measuring the binding of biotherapeutics to cellular target populations. - Highlighting how it can be used as an important tool for development and characterisation
of antibody therapeutics. - Harnessing flow based receptor occupancy (RO) assays to measure individual targets using
fluorescent tags to quantify bound and unbound receptors on specific cell populations for
preclinical development through to clinical trials. - To highlight various approaches for flow-based RO assessments, key preanalytical
considerations and validation criteria for these highly customisable assays.
Scientific Engagement Manager, Synexa
Nick is a medical scientist with experience in soluble biomarkers and lipidology. He completed his PhD in Medicine at the University of Cape Town, which focussed on exploring new novel lipid-based biomarkers of cardiovascular disease. Following post-doctoral experience in the department of Physiology at Stellenbosch University, Nick joined Synexa as a scientist in the soluble biomarkers lab where he was involved in developing and validating methods for unique client compounds as well as a serological method for SARS-CoV-2 antibody detection. Nick has published several peer-reviewed articles relating to both his PhD, post-doctoral research and work at Synexa. He is now part of the client services unit, assisting with outreach to clients, developing bespoke biomarker and analytical strategies and proposal generation.
