7:45 am Check in & Refreshments
8:45 am Chair’s Opening Remarks
Uncovering the Latest Technology for Advancing the Peptide Therapeutics Field
9:00 am Peptide Drug Hunting: Entrepreneurial Science & Technologies Empowering Breakthrough Medicines
Synopsis
• High level overview of peptide drug discovery and current lead identification strategies
• Peptide lead optimization integrating structural biology and computational chemistry
• Examples of peptide drug development with potential to be breakthrough medicines
• Creation of a worldwide entrepreneurial consortium for peptide drug hunting
9:30 am Exploring Advances in Screening Platforms to Propel Forward Discovery
Synopsis
• Delving into the science and success behind the PeptiDream platform
• Optimization process for orally available macrocyclic peptides
• Future development of peptide-drug conjugates and multi-functional peptide conjugates
10:00 am WuXi AppTec’s DEL Technology for DIscovering Peptides with Improved Stability & Cell Permeability
Synopsis
- Peptide therapeutics are emerging as viable treatments for traditionally difficult-to-drug targets, though discovery methods like phage and mRNA display face limitations such as low stability and poor cell penetration.
- WuXi AppTec's DEL technology overcomes these issues by enabling the integration of unnatural amino acids into vast peptide libraries, thereby improving their stability and cell permeability.
- DEL-derived libraries have produced cyclic peptides with strong inhibitory effects on the MDM2−p53 interaction, leading to valuable insights for enhancing drug properties.
- The technology has also identified PCSK9 binding peptides, offering a promising route for novel cholesterol-lowering drugs, and tumor-specific ligands for targeted drug delivery applications.
10:30 am Morning Break & Speed Networking
Synopsis
The ideal opportunity to get face-to-face with many of the brightest minds working in the peptide field and introduce yourself to the attendees that you would like to have more in-depth conversations with
11:30 am Developing Oral Peptide Therapeutics at the Speed of Light
Synopsis
• Describing our platform technology and how it enables custom synthesis of greater than 100 million peptides overnight
• Examples of how we have used our platform to optimize properties of peptide therapeutics
• Highlights of our internal oral peptide therapeutics discovery programs
12:00 pm Exploring Vivtex’s Robotic Screening Platform for Optimizing the Delivery of Oral Peptides
Synopsis
• Background behind Vivtex’s approach to developing orally administered peptides with high GI absorption
• Understanding the scientific rationale underlying Vivtex’s GI Tract-Tissue Robotic Interface System (GI-TRIS)
• Case studies detailing the use of this screening system to facilitate oral peptide delivery
12:30 pm Lunch & Networking
Advances in Applications for Peptide-Based Therapeutics – Exploring Their Untapped Potential
1:30 pm RapaGlues – A Bridge between Macrocyclic Peptides and Molecular Glues for Interrogating Hard to Drug Targets
Synopsis
- Our construction of DEL and array libraries of molecular glues will be discussed as well as our perspectives on accessing topological diversity.
- Screening of the platform has yielded chemical starting points have been discovered for several target classes. One program will described SAR leading to potent, cell permeable macrocycles for the inhibition of an oncology target.
- Our platform has yielded a development candidate for the prevention of acute kidney injury. The biological rationale and characterization of this candidate will be shown, both in vitro and in vivo efficacy data.
2:00 pm Novel BBB-Surpassing Peptide Structure for Unlocking New Treatment Avenues
Synopsis
- Developing peptide-based drugs for the treatment of affective disorders
- Peptides derived from natural genomic sequences with low toxicity and the ability to surpass the blood-brain-barrier
- Exploring PTIs lead compound, PT00114, which is currently in clinical trials
2:30 pm Afternoon Break & Scientific Poster Session
Synopsis
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 peptide experts eager to hear the latest innovations and positive movement, 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.
Exploring the Recent Clinical Successes Within Peptide Based Therapeutics to Drive Forward Future Success on Novel Targets
3:30 pm Uncovering the Discovery of FOG-001, a First-And-Only-In-Class Direct B-Catenin Inhibiting Peptide
4:00 pm Discovery of Zilucoplan: A Peptide Complement C5 Inhibitor in Acetylcholine Receptor Antibody-Positive Generalized Myasthenia Gravis
Synopsis
• Brief introduction of UCB and origin of zilucoplan
• Examining the biology background and early discovery of zilucoplan – a small, subcutaneously administered, macrocyclic peptide
• Discussing lessons learnt from this clinical success and future directions