Short Courses - 2024 Archive

2024 ARCHIVES

2024 Dinner Short Courses* (In-Person Only)

Short courses at Drug Discovery Chemistry are designed to be instructional, interactive, and provide in-depth information on a specific topic with opportunities for Q&A throughout. The courses include introductions for those new to the fields and those looking to learn more, as well as explanations on more technical aspects than time allows during our main conference presentations. Instructors are drawn from industry and academics alike, and many are recognized authorities in the fields or have teaching experience.

Dinner short courses will take place on Monday evening, April 1 and Wednesday evening, April 3 and be offered IN-PERSON ONLY.

*Premium Pricing or separate registration required

Monday, April 1, 2024 6:00 - 8:30 pm

SC1: Protein Degraders: A Beyond Rule of Five Space and in vitro ADME Perspective

Detailed Agenda

This course focuses on proteolysis targeting chimeras (PROTACs) and will cover topics relevant to developing them as oral therapeutics. Topics to be covered in this first part of the course will include their physicochemical properties and how these influence solubility and permeability and assays to determine polarity. We will also examine ADME topics focusing on in vitro assays including stability assays, transporters, drug-drug interactions (DDIs), Cytochrome P450 (CYP450) inhibition, etc.

John Erve, PhD, President, Jerve Scientific Consulting

Matthias Wittwer, PhD, Project Leader, DMPK-PD, Pharmaceutical Sciences, Roche Pharma

Instructors:

John Erve, PhD, President, Jerve Scientific Consulting

Matthias Wittwer, PhD, Project Leader, DMPK-PD, Pharmaceutical Sciences, Roche Pharma

Topics to be Covered:

Comparison of Rule of 5 and Beyond Rule of 5 space
Importance of intramolecular hydrogen bonds for solubility and permeability
Determining chameleonicity and its importance for PROTACs
In vitro assays to measure key ADME features of degraders
Pitfalls and points to consider when assessing degrader's ADME features
Linking in vitro to in vivo findings in terms of PK and PD

Who Should Attend:

Scientists in the field of proteolysis-targeting chimeras (PROTACs) who would like to deepen their understanding of these molecules and the physicochemical attributes that may contribute to their success as oral drugs. ADME scientists and medicinal chemists wishing to understand PROTACs from a drug safety and metabolism perspective. Graduate students and academic scientists interested in learning more about this rapidly developing new drug modality.

INSTRUCTOR BIOGRAPHIES:

John Erve is from Chicago and studied Chemistry (BS, MS) at the University of Chicago and earned a PhD in Toxicology at Oregon State University. Following postdoctoral work at Vanderbilt (1995-1999) he joined BD-Biosciences (Woburn, MA) as a Study Director. In 2002, he joined AstraZeneca (Sweden) where he characterized reactive metabolites. In 2004 he joined Wyeth (Collegeville, PA) as a Principal Scientist responsible for metabolite identification. In 2010, John joined Novartis (Cambridge, MA) as a Lab Head in Analytical Sciences. John returned to drug metabolism at Elan Pharmaceuticals (San Francisco, CA) in 2012 and later formed Jerve Scientific Consulting, Inc to help small biotech companies in the Bay area with their drug discovery efforts. John was a certified D.A.B.T. from 2004 to 2019.

Matthias Wittwer received his PhD in pharmaceutical sciences from the University of Basel in 2010. After a postdoctoral stay at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) in the laboratory of Kathy Giacomini, he started his industry career in 2013 at Bayer Pharma in Germany as a lab head and project leader in the department of Research Pharmacokinetics. In 2016, Matthias moved into a new role as drug metabolism and pharmacokinetics (DMPK) lab head and project leader for development projects at Bayer before joining Roche as DMPK and pharmacodynamics (PD) project leader in 2017. He works mostly on small molecule projects, driving their DMPK optimization and contributing to the successful development of novel drugs in different therapeutic areas.

SC2: Fragment-Based Drug Design: Advancing Tools and Technologies

Detailed Agenda

This course aims to introduce the fundamentals of Fragment-Based Lead Discovery (FBLD) to attendees. The first section will focus on the concepts of using fragments for hit generation. Special emphasis will be placed on practical pitfalls and the many ways to advance fragments to leads and drugs. The second part of the course will discuss the variety of fragment screening methods and when they are best applied. The composition of fragment libraries will also be discussed in detail. The attendees should come away from this course with a solid understanding of what FBLD is and how to apply it.

Daniel A. Erlanson, PhD, Chief Innovation Officer, Innovation and Discovery, Frontier Medicines Corporation

Ben J. Davis, PhD, Research Fellow, Biology, Vernalis R&D Ltd.

Instructors:

Daniel A. Erlanson, PhD, Chief Innovation Officer, Innovation and Discovery, Frontier Medicines Corporation

Ben J. Davis, PhD, Research Fellow, Biology, Vernalis R&D Ltd.

Topics to be Covered:

Pros and cons of fragment-based approaches
What makes a good fragment; properties of a good fragment library
Finding, validating, and characterizing low-affinity ligands
The importance of using orthogonal screening methods
What to do with a fragment—growing, linking, and more

INSTRUCTOR BIOGRAPHIES:

Dr. Daniel A. Erlanson is the VP of Chemistry for Frontier Medicines, which is using covalent fragments, machine learning, and chemoproteomics to target proteins often thought undruggable. Prior to Frontier he co-founded Carmot Therapeutics, where he contributed to two clinical-stage molecules. Before Carmot, Dr. Erlanson spent a decade developing fragment-based discovery technologies and leading medicinal chemistry projects at Sunesis Pharmaceuticals. Dr. Erlanson was an NIH postdoctoral fellow with James A. Wells at Genentech, earned his PhD in chemistry from Harvard University in the laboratory of Gregory L. Verdine, and his BA in chemistry from Carleton College. He has co-edited two books on fragment-based drug discovery and is an inventor on more than a dozen issued patents and an author of more than forty scientific publications. He also runs a blog devoted to fragment-based drug discovery, Practical Fragments (http://practicalfragments.blogspot.com/).

Dr. Ben Davis is a Research Fellow at Vernalis Research, a biotech company based in Cambridge UK which has been at the forefront of fragment-based approaches since 1998. An NMR spectroscopist and biophysicist by training, his current research focus is the development of biophysics and FBLD methods for challenging therapeutic targets and systems. Dr Davis studied for his PhD in protein folding and molecular interactions with Professor Alan Fersht at Cambridge University, and then studied the interactions of small molecules with proteins and RNA. He has over 20 years’ experience in the drug discovery industry. He has contributed to seven books over the last decade and is an author on more than forty scientific publications. He is a frequent speaker at scientific conferences and has been running FBLD training workshops since 2007.

SC3: Fundamentals of Generative AI for Drug Discovery

Detailed Agenda

Deep generative modeling is rapidly transforming de novo drug discovery, streamlining the entire process. This course aims to explain the potential of AI, machine learning, and generative AI models in creating tailored molecules with specific properties. It explores the fundamentals of Variational Autoencoders (VAE), Generative Adversarial Networks (GAN), Transformers, Large Language Models (LLMs), BERT, and GPT models in the context of drug discovery, highlighting their crucial role in reshaping the pharmaceutical landscape. This course is designed for medicinal chemists, molecular modeling users, and project managers seeking to harness the capabilities of modern Generative AI concepts and integrate them into their work.

Parthiban Srinivasan, PhD, Professor, Data Science and Engineering, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Bhopal

Petrina Kamya, PhD, Global Head of AI Platforms, Vice President Insilico Medicine; President, Insilico Medicine Canada, Insilico

Instructors:

Parthiban Srinivasan, PhD, Professor, Data Science and Engineering, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Bhopal

Petrina Kamya, PhD, Global Head of AI Platforms, Vice President Insilico Medicine; President, Insilico Medicine Canada, Insilico

Topics to be Covered:

Demystifying generative AI concepts and key terminologies
How generative AI works in de novo molecular design
Predictive AI for ADME properties
Overview of large language models (LLMs)
Leveraging language models in drug discovery research with a case study

Who Should Attend:

This course is designed for medicinal chemists, molecular modeling users, and project managers seeking to harness the capabilities of modern Generative AI concepts and integrate them into their work.

INSTRUCTOR BIOGRAPHIES:

Parthiban Srinivasan, an experienced data scientist, earned his PhD from Indian Institute of Science, specializing in Computational Chemistry. After his PhD, he continued the research at NASA Ames Research Center (USA) and Weizmann Institute of Science (Israel). Then he worked at AstraZeneca in the area of Computer Aided Drug Design for Tuberculosis. Later, he headed informatics business units in Jubilant Biosys and then in GvkBio before he floated the company, Parthys Reverse Informatics and later an AI consultancy, Vingyani. Currently, he is a Professor at Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Bhopal, teaching Data Science.

Petrina Kamya, PhD, is the Head of AI Platforms and President of Insilico Medicine, Canada an end-to-end artificial intelligence-driven drug discovery company. Before joining Insilico, Dr. Kamya spent eight years in various roles at Chemical Computing Group that involved scientific and business-related aspects of preclinical drug discovery. In addition to establishing the corporate strategy for the sales and business development of molecular modeling software for academia, she also played an active role as an application scientist working on real-world discovery projects and finally in a senior role in strategy and business development for pharma and biotech companies. Following her time at CCG, Petrina moved to Certara as a Market Access Manager, where she learned first-hand the challenges of getting drugs to market. Petrina has been with Insilico Medicine since August 2020. She holds a PhD in Chemistry (specializing in computational chemistry) from Concordia University.

SC4: DNA-Encoded Libraries

Detailed Agenda

This course provides an overview of DNA-Encoded Library (DEL) screening platforms, discusses common selection strategies for identifying novel hits from DEL campaigns and delves into parameters for building a library collection. The instructors will also cover strategic considerations in using DEL selection data to accelerate hit-to-lead steps in drug discovery.

Svetlana Belyanskaya, PhD, former Vice President, Biology, Anagenex

Ghotas Evindar, PhD, Drug Discovery Consultant, Former DEL Platform Senior Manager and Group Leader at GlaxoSmithKline

Instructors:

Svetlana Belyanskaya, PhD, former Vice President, Biology, Anagenex

Ghotas Evindar, PhD, Drug Discovery Consultant, Former DEL Platform Senior Manager and Group Leader at GlaxoSmithKline

Topics to be Covered:

Introduction to DNA-encoded libraries
Pros and cons of using DNA-encoded chemical libraries
Structure of the DNA coding region and how it has evolved over a period of time
Affinity-based selection strategy and how this could guide hit picking
Data analysis and the decision-making logic in hit confirmationIntroduction to one-bead, one-compound (OBOC)
DNA-encoded libraries
Additional benefits of the new platform

INSTRUCTOR BIOGRAPHIES:

Dr. Belyanskaya is accomplished scientific leader in the field of small molecule drug discovery and an expert in DNA encoded library platform. She was involved in the development of DEL platform for 20 years. Svetlana has made significant contributions to the design and development of the DEL technology at Praecis Pharmaceuticals and, later, at GlaxoSmithKline. She was instrumental in discovering first DEL-sourced molecule to progress into clinical trials, a potent and selective inhibitor for enzyme soluble epoxide hydrolase (hsEH). At GSK, Svetlana successfully led team of scientists on multiple scientific programs. Svetlana has deep expertise in biochemistry, molecular biology, cell biology and very passionate about future development of DEL technology with goal to find novel quality leads that bring value for the treatment of diseases with unmet medical needs

Before recently joining 1859 Inc, Ghotas was VP and head of drug discovery at Exo Therapeutics in Watertown, MA. He has authored well over 50 publications and patents in the area of drug discovery and is committed to education surrounding DNA-encoded library (DEL) technology, leading a number of DEL roundtable discussions and courses over the last several years. He was born and raised in the Kurdish mountains before migrating to Canada. He completed his undergraduate and MSc degrees at the University of Waterloo, concentrating on synthesis and structure-activity studies of aureobasidins. He then joined Vertex Pharmaceuticals, in Cambridge, as a medicinal chemist. While at Vertex, he was instrumental in the success of P38 MAP Kinase (first and second generation), ICE-1 inhibitors (second generation), and early ZAP-70 programs. After four years at Vertex, and four clinical candidates, he moved to the University of Toronto to pursue a PhD degree in organic chemistry with focus on “Novel Approaches to Synthesis of Nitrogen Containing Heterocycles”. After completing his PhD with Dr. Robert Batey, he moved back to the Boston area to join Praecis Pharmaceuticals as a staff scientist. There he led the medicinal chemistry sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P) receptor agonist discovery program and contributed to the inception of the novel DEL platform. Praecis was acquired by GlaxoSmithKline in 2007 and Ghotas began a 12-year journey with DNA-encoded library technology (ELT) platforms, including portfolio, library and selection design, data analysis, Hit ID, and H2L medicinal chemistry. In early 2019, Ghotas moved to Exo Therapeutics where he continues his adventures in small molecule drug discovery.

Wednesday, April 3, 2024 6:15 - 8:45 pm

SC5: Protein Degraders: An in vivo ADME and Safety Perspective

Detailed Agenda

This course focuses on proteolysis targeting chimeras (PROTACs) and will cover topics relevant to developing them as therapeutics. Topics to be covered in this second part of the course will include looking at what is known about how PROTACs are metabolized in vivo and strategies to deliver them with adequate PK/PD. The unique mechanism of action of PROTACs gives rise to some drug safety issues not seen in small molecules, which will be discussed. Finally, we will explore the possible relevance of circadian rhythm to protein degradation and PROTACs.

Donglu Zhang, PhD, Senior Fellow, Genentech Inc.

John Erve, PhD, President, Jerve Scientific Consulting

Instructors:

Donglu Zhang, PhD, Senior Fellow, Genentech Inc.

John Erve, PhD, President, Jerve Scientific Consulting

Topics to be Covered:

In vivo ADME properties of PROTACs
Delivery of PROTACs
PROTAC PK-PD correlation
Safety issues unique to PROTACs
Circadian rhythm considerations

Who Should Attend:

INSTRUCTOR BIOGRAPHIES:

Donglu Zhang is a Senior Fellow in DMPK at Genentech. He is interested in applying drug metabolism studies in drug design and development of both small molecule, protein degraders, and antibody-drug conjugates (ADC) drugs. He has done numerous human mass balance studies, investigated pharmacokinetic drivers for efficacy of modalities, designed drug delivery approaches, and involved in IND, NDA/BLA submissions. He received the Sir James Black Award for discovery of and original research on Eliquis from British Pharmacological Society (2018), and the Ondetti and Cushman Award for invention of mass defect filtering method (MDF) from Bristol-Myers Squibb (2007). He has co-authored 130 peer-reviewed articles. He received his Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from University of Utah.