Conference Day 1, May 22

8:00 am Check-In & Coffee

8:45 am Chair’s Opening Remarks

  • Saso Cemerski Executive Director & Head of Immune Engagers, AstraZeneca

Tricky Terrain: Tackling Solid Tumors with Cell Engagers to Address Unmet Need & Mitigate Toxicity

9:00 am Bench to Bedside: Tebentafusp, the Story of the First Approved TCR Therapeutic

  • Annelise Vuidepot Chief Technology Officer - Head of Pipeline and Platform Research site Head, Immunocore Ltd

Synopsis

  • A historical overview exploring the context of building a novel pipeline and platform
  • Developing and characterizing transformative medicines to address unmet needs in cancer

9:30 am Understanding Cell Recruitment to Solid Tumors to Localize Targeting & Enhance Immune Response

Synopsis

  • Localizing immune cell recruitment to minimize systemic toxicity
  • Amplify anti-tumor activity and triggering of cytotoxic factors while combating immune evasion
  • Explore induction of immunological memory towards tumor-specific antigens

10:00 am Novel Dual Targeting T Cell Engager With Selective Tumor Activity in Solid Tumors

Synopsis

  • Engineering strategy to increase the therapeutic index of T cell engager molecules
  • Improving tumor selectivity to avoid on-target off-tumor toxicity

10:30 am Speed Networking

Synopsis

The ideal opportunity to get face-to-face with many of the brightest minds working in the cell engager field and introduce yourself to the attendees that you would like to have more in-depth conversations with your peers.

Balancing on Toxicity Tightropes for Cell Engager Therapies

11:30 am A First-in-Class Anti-CD19, Anti-CD3, Anti-CD2 Trispecific Antibody (PIT565) for the Treatment of B Cell Malignancies

Synopsis

  • PIT565 is a first-in-class, CD19xCD3xCD2, IgG-like, trispecific antibody that targets CD19+ cells and at the same time engages CD3 and CD2 (a costimulatory receptor) on T cells, which leads to redirected T-cell cytotoxicity toward CD19-positive malignant B cell
  • Preclinical data demonstrate more robust anti-tumor response and overall T cell effector functions compared with the bispecific control
  • PIT565 is currently in a Phase I, open-label study to characterize the safety and tolerability of PIT565 in patients with R/R B-NHL and R/R B-ALL to determine recommended dose(s), schedule(s), and route(s) of administration for future studies, as well as to estimate the preliminary antitumor activity of PIT565

12:00 pm Roundtable Discussion: Resistance Risks? Comparing Cell Engagers to Alternate Cancer Treatments Such as ADCs & Cell Therapies to Evaluate Potential Risks

Synopsis

  • Question the learnings from alternate therapeutic strategies such as how CAR T developers manage CRS
  • Balance how cell engagers can fit into the standard of care or following patient treatment with these therapies
  • Discuss future directions and the looming risk of resistance. Can we prevent it ever developing?

1:00 pm Lunch & Networking

Engineering Improved Delivery, Stability, Affinity & Avidity for Enhanced Efficacy

2:00 pm Engineering & Assembling Novel Formats to Fine-Tune Affinity & Avidity

Synopsis

  • Revolutionizing protein structure of BITEs to boost selectivity, ensuring binding to tumor cells while sidestepping any unwanted interactions with healthy tissue
  • Achieving a balance between affinity and risk of CRS
  • Building robust translational and bioanalytical strategies to safely and effectively treat more cancers

2:30 pm Mitigate Toxicity by Engineering & Assembling Novel Formats to Mitigate Toxicity

Synopsis

  • Optimizing protein structure of BITEs to achieve increased selectivity of binding to tumor cells to minimize interactions with healthy tissue
  • Navigating reducing affinity to reduce risk of CRS and toxicity, compared to decreased potency and risk reducing efficacy
  • Explore the promise of tri- and multi-specific cell engagers for dual targeting

3:00 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 cell engager enthusiasts eager to hear the latest cutting-edge advancements, you will have the opportunity to display a poster presenting your own work. Additionally, you will have the chance to review others’ posters displaying novel approaches to biomarker development, novel target discovery, and trial updates. 

4:00 pm Achieving Strong Avidity & Durability

  • Angus Sinclair Senior Vice President - Immuno-Oncology, IGM Biosciences

Synopsis

  • Utilizing the natural features of immunoglobulins to achieve strong binding
  • Looking into the overall developability strengths and weaknesses of IGM based modalities

4:30 pm Chair’s Closing Remarks

  • Saso Cemerski Executive Director & Head of Immune Engagers, AstraZeneca