2016 Archived Content
MONDAY, 31 OCTOBER – 09:00 - 12:00
08:00 - 09:00 Short Course Registration
SC1: Cancer Immunotherapy - Detailed Agenda
Fred Arce Vargas, Ph.D., Haematology, University College London Cancer Institute
Andrea van Elsas, Ph.D., CSO, Aduro Biotech
Distinct from other paradigms in medical oncology, cancer immunotherapy aims to treat the patient’s immune system. During the past few years, antibodies targeting T cell checkpoint proteins have demonstrated unprecedented clinical responses
and long-term benefit in patients diagnosed with melanoma and other advanced cancers. Beyond anti-PD-1 and anti-CTLA-4, other pathways and therapeutic agents are rapidly being translated to clinical practice alone or in combination approaches.
SC2: Mutation and Selection Strategies beyond Affinity Optimisation - Detailed Agenda
Orla Cunningham, Ph.D., Associate Director, Global Biotherapeutic Technologies, Pfizer, Inc.
Matthew Lambert, Ph.D., Principal Scientist, Global Biotherapeutic Technologies, Pfizer, Inc.
This course will begin with an introduction to the multiple display technology platforms, mutagenesis strategies and library generation options that exist to enable antibody optimization. In the simplest application, generated libraries can be
selected for improved antigen binding. However, increasingly these strategies are being used for more complex applications from humanization to ortholog cross-reactivity, stability, solubility and specificity optimizations. This workshop will
use case studies to help attendees navigate the complex workflows and technological options available to ensure success.
SC3: Designing Antibodies for Function and Low Risk of Immunogenicity - Detailed Agenda
Maria Gonzalez-Pajuelo, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer, FairJourney Biologics
Matthew Baker, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer, Abzena plc
George Octavian Badescu, Ph.D., Senior Director Scientific Affairs, Abzena plc
Increased knowledge of elements that contribute to enhancing the immunogenicity of protein therapeutics has enabled the development of a preclinical ‘toolkit’ that can be used to assess and mitigate against the risk of immunogenicity
during the early stages of drug development. For antibody therapeutics a variety of in silico, in vitro and in vivo immunogenicity selection/testing technologies are available and these can be used at various stages during antibody development
from discovery through to lead optimisation. This workshop will provide an introduction to antibody immunogenicity, assessment of the technologies available for lead selection, rational sequence design through engineering, and a look at how
these tools can be integrated with optimising antibodies for desired function.
SC4: Transient Protein Expression: A Key Tool to Enable Rapid Protein Engineering - Detailed Agenda
Richard Altman, MS, Scientist, Protein Technologies, Amgen, Inc.
Henry C. Chiou, Ph.D., Associate Director, Cell Biology, Life Science Solutions, Thermo Fisher Scientific
Dominic Esposito, Ph.D., Director, Protein Expression Laboratory,
Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research, Leidos Biomedical Research, Inc.
This short course introduces both the fundamental concepts and technologies needed to establish transient protein production in mammalian cells, which has become an essential tool to enable rapid protein engineering. Transient expression allows
for the rapid generation, purification and characterization of milligram-to-gram quantities of secreted or intracellular recombinant proteins for therapeutic, functional and structural studies. The course combines instruction and case studies
in an interactive environment.
THURSDAY, 3 NOVEMBER – 17:30 - 20:30
17:00 - 17:30 Short Course Registration
SC5: Troubleshooting and Engineering of Antibody Constructs - Detailed Agenda
Jonas Schaefer, Ph.D., Head, High-Throughput Binder Selection Facility, Biochemistry, University of Zurich
Julia Neugebauer, Ph.D., Associate Director, Leader Discovery Programs, MorphoSys AG
Recombinant antibodies vary widely in their biophysical characteristics. In particular, antibody variable domains differ in their intrinsic thermodynamic stability and may require labour-intensive engineering. It is essential to implement antibody
engineering strategies in screening and initial characterisation project phases in order to avoid time and cost consuming optimisation strategies in later development. Moreover, it is critical to understand how poor stability of individual
variable domains can limit the biophysical properties of small fragments, and also affect production yield, stability and homogeneity of full-length IgGs containing these domains.
SC6: Engineering of Bispecific Antibodies - Detailed Agenda
Nicolas Fischer, Ph.D., Head, Research, Novimmune SA
Michaela Silacci, Ph.D., Director, Discovery Research, Covagen AG, part of J&J
By attending this interactive workshop, you will learn about the various approaches used for the engineering of bispecific antibodies and bispecific scaffold-based binding proteins. Different technologies will be compared, and examples for applications
of bispecific antibodies in drug development will be presented with a focus on candidates that are currently being evaluated in clinical trials. Opportunities and challenges in the field of bispecific antibodies will be discussed.
SC7: Protein Purification Strategies: Dealing with Proteins that Are Prone to Aggregate - Detailed Agenda
Mario Lebendiker, Ph.D., Head, Protein Purification Facility, Wolfson Centre for Applied Structural Biology, Alexander Silberman Institute of Life Sciences, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
This course will provide a comprehensive and detailed outline of hands-on issues for purifying proteins. We will first address general considerations about the protein we want to produce, including issues of activity, solubility, homogeneity,
purity, and proper oligomeric conformation. Aggregation is one of the main obstacles in protein production, so we will look at how to monitor for aggregation and comprehend its mechanism. We will also discuss how to check for the optimal
solubility conditions at the expression level, and our comprehensive approach for optimizing solubility during purification. We will also discuss expression screening methodology, environmental factors to consider during purification,
families of additives, and screening for additives. Lastly, we will address ways to avoid aggregation, as well as setting up protein concentration and storage.
SC8: Protein Aggregation: Mechanism, Characterisation and Consequences - Detailed Agenda
Thomas Laue, Ph.D., Professor, Molecular, Cellular & Biomedical Sciences, University of New Hampshire
Protein aggregation is recognized by regulatory agencies and industry as a key quality attribute of biotherapeutic products. Various aggregates hold the potential for adversely impacting production and patients. This in-depth workshop reviews
origins and consequences of aggregation in biotherapeutics, and then examines strategies for predicting and quantifying it. It benefits scientists engaged in development, production, analytical characterization and approval of biotherapeutics
and who require a good working knowledge of aggregation.
*separate registration required for short courses