40 Presentations from Top Pharma at Drug Discovery Chemistry 2025

As in the past, speaker participation by industry is once again very strong, with presentations from AbbVie, Amgen, Astex Pharmaceuticals, AstraZeneca, Bayer, Biogen, Boehringer Ingelheim, Bristol Myers Squibb, Eli Lilly, Genentech, GlaxoSmithKline, Johnson & Johnson, Merck, Novartis, Pfizer, Roche, Sanofi, and more. Preview some of the 40 presentations* below:

Implementation of an IR-MALDESI-Based ASMS Platform: Learnings from Screening and Affinity Ranking Applications
Nathaniel L. Elsen, PhD, Principal Research Scientist, Discovery, AbbVie, Inc.

Optimization of a Fragment Hit Yields ABBV-973, a Potent, Pan-Allele Small Molecule STING Agonist for Intravenous Administration
Andrew S. Judd, Medicinal Chemist, AbbVie

Novel KRAS Inhibitors from Covalent DNA-Encoded Library Screening
Jingjing Xie, PhD, Senior Scientist, Chemistry, Amgen

PRMT5 Inhibitors via DEL Screening
Sanne Glad, PhD, Principal Scientist & Project Leader, Lead Discovery, Amgen

Enabling High Throughput Electron Cryo-Microscopy for Structure-Based Design
Judith Reeks, PhD, Scientist, Structural Biology, Astex Pharmaceuticals

Discovery and Characterization of Covalent Inhibitors
Hua Xu, PhD, Director, Head of Chemical Biology and Proteomics, AstraZeneca

Proteomics-Enabled E3 Ligase Discovery
Angelo Andres, Senior Scientist, Chemical Biology, AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals

Prioritization of Targets for Non-Hormonal Contraception
Thomas Zollner, MD, Vice President & Lead, Reproductive Health, Bayer AG

PK/PD-Model Guided Design of Targeted Protein Degraders and Quantitative Translation of in vitro Data to in vivo Degradation Profiles
Andreas Reichel, PhD, Vice President & Head, DMPK Modelling & Simulations, Bayer Pharma AG

Applying Diverse Small Molecule Strategies to Difficult Targets: Drugging BTK for (Neuro)Immunology
Christopher J. Helal, PhD, Vice President & Head, Medicinal Chemistry, Biogen

Using CryoEM to Capture Multiple Activation States of an Orphan GPCR
Claire Metrick, PhD, Senior Scientist, Structural Biology, Biogen

KRAS—Degrading the Undruggable
Martin Schmiedel, PhD, Principal Scientist I, Medicinal Chemistry, Boehringer Ingelheim

Next-Generation, Orally Bioavailable, PD-L1-Targeted Macrocyclic Peptide
Paul M. Scola, PhD, Senior Director, Drug Discovery, Bristol Myers Squibb Co.

The Promise of Synergistic Pharmacology: LY3457263, a Novel NPY2 Receptor Agonist for Type 2 Diabetes and Obesity
Avinash Muppidi, PhD, Director, Peptide Therapeutics, Eli Lilly & Co.

Feedback from the Bench and Bedside Leading to the Discovery of Inavolisib (Itovebi), a Potent and Selective PI3K Alpha Inhibitor
Daniel Sutherlin, PhD, Senior Vice President, Small Molecule Drug Discovery, Genentech Inc.

Novel Approaches to Deliver Bifunctional Degraders
Donglu Zhang, PhD, Senior Fellow, DMPK, Genentech Inc.

Next-Generation Fragment Screening: Revealing Hidden Insights through Parallel SPR Detection on Large Target Arrays
John Quinn, PhD, Distinguished Scientist, Biophysical Group, Biochemical and Cellular Pharmacology, Genentech

Formulation & Delivery Considerations in Early Drug Discovery for Oral Peptides
Tahnee J. Dening, PhD, Principal Scientist, Genentech Inc.

Identification of Disulfide Constrained Peptide-Based Binders against Membrane Bound E3 Ubiquitin Ligases
Xinxin Gao, PhD, Principal Scientific Manager, Peptide Therapeutics, Genentech, Inc.

Targeting the Hippo Pathway in Cancers
Anwesha Dey, PhD, Director & Distinguished Scientist, Discovery Oncology, Genentech Inc.

Application of Biophysical Methods for Molecular Glue Discovery and Characterization
Alexandra Frommlet, Scientist, Biochemical and Cellular Pharmacology, Biophysics Group, Genentech Inc.

Mechanism of Base-Exchange Inhibition of SARM1
Soo Ro, PhD, Senior Scientist I, Biophysics, Genentech Inc.

Discovery of Pyrazolocarboxamide RIP2 Kinase Inhibitors
Mark A. Elban, Scientific Leader, Discovery Chemistry, GSK

Machine Learning for 3D-Aware Molecular Representations in DEL
Angelina Heyler, PhD, Data Engineer, Encoded Libraries, GSK

On-DNA Binder Confirmation: Increasing Confidence in DEL Hits
Karli Holman, PhD, Investigator (Encoded Technologies Lead Discovery Chemistry), GSK

Application of Mechanistic Multiparameter Optimization to Predict in vivo Pharmacokinetics of Molecular Glues
Lei Jia, PhD, Associate Director, Drug Discovery Data Science, Johnson & Johnson

RSV Polymerase Inhibitors with New Binding Modes: Identified by DEL & High-Throughput Screening
Minh Thao Tran, PhD, Principal Scientist, Discovery Chemistry, Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicine

Identification and Development of Fragment-Derived Chemical Matter in Previously Unknown Allosteric Sites of WRN
Justyna Sikorska, PhD, Associate Principal Scientist, Mass Spectrometry & Biophysics, Merck

Large-Scale Screening of Drug Candidates from Multiple Modalities Using Biophysical Technologies in Early-Stage Drug Discovery
Arusha Acharyya, PhD, Senior Scientist, Mass Spectrometry & Biophysics, Merck & Co. Inc.

Advancements in Peptide Late-Stage Functionalization for Drug Discovery
Jennifer Hanisak, PhD, Senior Scientist, Peptide Chemistry, Merck

Talk Title to be Announced
Scott Pollack, PhD, Research Fellow, Peptide Therapeutics, Merck & Co., Inc.

The Future Now—AI and Drug Discovery
Jose Duca, PhD, Global Head Computer Aided Drug Discovery, Global Discovery Chemistry, Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research Inc.

Biophysical and Structural Characterization of the Molecular Glue-Mediated Interaction of Transcription Factors with Cereblon
Charles Wartchow, PhD, Associate Director, Global Discovery Chemistry, Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research

Phenotypic DEL in Droplets for TPD and Beyond
Ken Yamada, PhD, Associate Director, Global Discovery Chemistry, Novartis BioMedical Research

SPR-Microscopy for Detecting GPCR Target Engagement
Kris A. Borzilleri, Principal Scientist, Structural Biology & Molecular Sciences, Pfizer Global R&D, Groton Labs

Bridging the DEL Divide: A Cross-Pharma Library Building Consortium
Sylvie K. Sakata, PhD, Executive Director & Head, External Research Solutions, Pfizer Inc.

Case Studies Comparing Screening Small vs. Large DNA Encoded Libraries
Timothy L. Foley, PhD, Senior Principal Scientist & Lab Head, DNA Encoded Library Selection & Pharmacology, Pfizer Global R&D Groton Labs

Biased Agonism at GLP-1R and GIPR for Treating T2D and Obesity
Ruben Rodriguez, PhD, Senior Scientist, In Vitro Pharmacology, Carmot/Roche

Affinity Selection-Mass Spectrometry (ASMS) for Drug Lead Generation
Hans-Peter N. Biemann, PhD, Distinguished Scientist, Integrated Drug Discovery, Sanofi

* As of 12/17/2024 – Please see individual agenda pages for most up-to-date list of speakers