Explore the Agenda

7:30 am Check In & Coffee

8:20 am Chair’s Opening Remarks

Evaluating the Current T-Cell Engager Landscape to Apply Lessons Learnt from Hematology to Solid Tumors & Autoimmune Disease

8:30 am Panel Discussion: Reflecting on Past Successes & Future Challenges Across the T-Cell Engager Landscape to Assess the Benchmark for Success & Accelerate TCEs to Patients

Executive Director & Head of Immune Engagers, AstraZeneca
Associate Vice President, Eli Lilly & Co.
Chief Scientific Officer & Executive Vice President, Vir Biotechnology Inc.
  • Reflecting on the move away from first generation BiTE molecules to next-generation logic-gated and multi-specific T cell engagers
  • Exploring advancements in preclinical and clinical modelling of TCEs to allow for improvements in efficacy whilst minimizing system toxicity
  • Evaluating the potential for TCEs to serve as a scalable, off-the-shelf alternative to personalized CAR-T therapies

9:00 am T-Cell Engager Landscape

Senior Researcher, Beacon
  • Exploring the latest developments shaping the T-cell engager landscape.
  • Highlighting which mechanisms, scaffolds, and targets have established themselves and which are emerging.
  • Analyzing where T-cell engager development is heading next, and what to watch.

9:30 am Novel Immune Cell Engagers for Cancer

Executive Director & Head of Immune Engagers, AstraZeneca
  • Exploring strategies for widening the therapeutic index in solid tumors and haematological malignancies
  • Development of CD8-biased T cell engagers
  • Supporting T cell mediated anti-tumor immunity with CD8-biased IL-2

10:00 am Session Reserved for Invenra

10:30 am Speed Networking

Put a face to a name – this session is the perfect opportunity to get face-to-face time with key opinion leaders, leading companies, and innovative researchers in the T-Cell Engager field. Establish meaningful connections to build upon for the rest of the conference and gain individual insight beyond the papers and press releases into the pioneering research and technique applications.

11:00 am Morning Refreshments & Networking

Discovery, Design & Engineering

Innovating Accurate Molecular Engineering to Achieve Selective Activation & Minimize Toxicities in Solid Tumors

11:30 am Exploring How Engineering TCEs With PRO-XTEN Masks & Protease-Cleavable Linkers Allows for Selective Activation in the Tumor Microenvironment & Extended Half- Life

Chief Scientific Officer & Executive Vice President, Vir Biotechnology Inc.
  • Discussing the discovery and protein engineering strategies for generating for PRO-XTEN TCEs
  • Evaluating data on current clinical molecules using PRO-XTEN masking and their potential to safely target high-expression antigens 

12:00 pm Harnessing Avidity-Based Binding Logic to Improve T-cell Engager Selectivity for Solid Tumors

Head of Cell Biology & Assay Development, LabGenius
  • Integrating high-throughput functional cell-based assays with machine learning to enable rapid optimization of preclinical candidates
  • Solving on-target/off-tumor toxicities through avidity-driven tumor selectivity
  • Progressing our lead asset LGTX-101 (Nectin-4 x CD3 T-cell engager) through IND enabling studies demonstrating robust in vitro, in vivo and biophysical characteristics

Preclinical & Translational Development

Leveraging Next Generation Preclinical Models & Humanized Animal Models to Support Candidate Selection & Acceleration Towards the Clinic

11:30 am Advancing Immuno‑Oncology Breakthroughs & Reducing Toxicity Risks Through Next‑Generation Preclinical Models

Director, Immuno‑Oncology, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals
  • Gaining insights using cutting‑edge preclinical models to model toxicity mitigation strategies and on‑target/off‑tumor effects
  • Understanding optimized dosing strategies can expand therapeutic windows and improve the safety profile of next‑generation immunotherapies

12:00 pm Speech: A Translational Approach to Evaluate T Cell Engagers & Bispecific Antibodies in Humanized Animal Models

Vice President, Research & Executive Director, Immuno-Oncology, Shanghai Lide Biotech Co. Ltd.
  • Development of Co-inoculated tumor/PBMC animal models to assess the efficacy and immune-mediated mechanisms of T cell engagers and bispecific antibodies
  • Application of IO-FIVE, a humanized MiniPDX platform to evaluate T cell engagers in fresh patient-derived samples
  • Establishment of clinically relevant animal models to support candidate selection and optimization

12:30 pm Lunch & Networking

Discovery, Design & Engineering

Enhancing Immune Persistence by Integrating Site-Specific Co-stimulation to Achieve Durable & Targeted Anti-Tumor Responses

1:30 pm Enhancing Efficacy of T-Cell Engagers in Solid Tumors with CD28 Co-Stimulation

Associate Director, Protein Engineering, Zymeworks
  • CD28 stimulation has the potential to provide more durable responses and activate T cell responses in cold tumors with low T cell infiltration.
  • ZW209 is a DLL3-targeted multispecific T cell engagers leveraging cis co-stimulation of CD28 with favorable preclinical efficacy and tolerability.
  • Our conditional CD28 co-stimulation platform can be combined with multiple geometries and tumor associated antigens to increase efficacy of T cell engagers in both solid and liquid tumors.

2:00 pm CD28 Targeted Co-Stimulatory Bispecific Antibodies for Treatment of Solid Tumors

Senior Director, Translational Biology, Rondo Therapeutics
  • Discovery of CD28 agonists
  • Indication specific development of CD28 targeted bispecific antibodies
  • Development of a CD28xNectin-4 bispecific for bladder cancer treatment

2:30 pm Advancing the EVOLVE Platform with Integrated CD2 Costimulation to Enhance the Depth of T-Cell Engager Responses & Prevent Early Therapeutic Exhaustion

Executive Director, Biotherapeutics, EvolveImmune Therapeutics
  • T‑cell engagers have shown positive clinical outcomes across multiple indications, including solid tumors, but currently approved molecules do not provide a direct co‑stimulatory signal
  • The EVOLVE platform integrates CD2 co‑stimulation into CD3 multispecifics to enhance T‑cell activation, durability, and functional fitness
  • An overview of the EVOLVE multispecific platform and highlight key design features that enable improved T‑cell engagement

Preclinical & Translational Development

Overcoming Therapeutic Resistance by Engineering Adaptive Immune Engagers to Transform Tumor Outcomes

1:30 pm Expanding the Reach of T Cell Engagers in Solid Tumors through pMHC Multi-Targeting

Chief Executive Officer & Founder, Deck Bio
  • Addressing the fundamental challenge of low pMHC copy number and target heterogeneity that limits TCE efficacy in solid tumors through multi-pMHC recognition strategies
  • Demonstrating how engineered TCRs can recognize multiple cancer-restricted pMHCs through shared structural motifs, enabling potent T cell activation at sub-10 pM EC50s while maintaining specificity
  • Establishing comprehensive specificity de-risking approaches using sequence-agnostic, immunopeptidomics-based screening across >13,000 healthy tissue peptides to support broad application across major solid tumor indications

2:00 pm Leveraging Single-Cell Sequencing to Identify Highly Precise Single and Combination T-Cell Engager Targets

Senior Director, Antibody Engineering & Design, Cartography Biosciences, Inc
  • Highlighting the central challenge in solid tumor T-cell engagers: identifying clean targets with high tumor specificity
  • Cartography’s ATLAS platform: applying single-cell RNA sequencing to map tumor antigen expression and identify tumor-restricted antigens with broad patient coverage
  • Discovery and advancement of CBI-1214, a T-cell engager targeting LY6G6D, a highly tumor-restricted colorectal cancer antigen entering the clinic in early 2026
  • Extending this framework to multi-specific and AND-gated T-cell engagers through the SUMMIT platform, enabling identification of target pairs that further enhance therapeutic index

2:30 pm Panel Discussion: Translating Mechanistic Insights into Effector Durability through Mitigating T-Cell Exhaustion

Chief Executive Officer & Founder, Deck Bio
Senior Director, Antibody Engineering & Design, Cartography Biosciences, Inc
  • Analyzing whether mass changes in peripheral T-cell capacity serve as a predictive biomarker for clinical response are a signature of therapeutic failure
  • Identifying points where TCEs fail to maintain sustained cytotoxic pressure and harnessing these insights to inform the timing of TCE administration
  • Understanding how chronic antigen exposure under TCE stimulation drives effector dysfunction and how these findings can be used to engineer more resilient T-cell therapies

3:00 pm Scientific Poster Session

Immerse yourself in an engaging and informal session, join your peers in a relaxed atmosphere that encourages meaningful conversations and discussions. Explore a range of exciting poster presentations and showcase your own developments in the TCE world. Don’t miss out on the chance to submit your own posters and get ready to connect, learn, and present. To submit your poster please contact info@hansonwade.com

Lessons Learnt from Haematology to Inform Novel Costimulatory Strategies for Solid Tumors

3:30 pm Translating Haematology’s Successes: Leveraging Immune Costimulation Lessons to Advance Solid Tumor Therapies

Senior Scientist, Roche
  • Establishing the clinical PoM for two distinct costimulators, Englumafusp alfa (4-1BB) and CD28, in combination with Glofitamab for r/r NHL, showing how each engages a unique immunologic pathway
  • Presents biomarker evidence (e.g., peripheral memory T‑cell expansion, ctDNA reduction) linking 4‑1BB to durable, late responses and CD28 to rapid, early tumor killing
  • Identifies tumor microenvironment profiles where each costimulatory pathway performs optimally, supporting more personalized treatment selection for poor‑prognosis patients

4:00 pm In Vitro Assays for T Cell Engagers: From Design to Translational Relevance

Scientific Advisor & Associate Director, CRO Services, WuXi Biologics
  • Proven strategies for assay design, optimization, and biological interpretation in preclinical development
  • How in vitro models like bispecific format evaluation can bridge discovery and translational relevance.
  • Practical approaches for transforming complex bioassay data into actionable insights to guide drug development

4:30 pm Advancing PRAME pMHC Targeted T-Cell Engager for Solid Tumor Therapy

Principal Scientist, Gilead Sciences
  • Bispecific T‑cell engagers have shown strong clinical success in hematologic cancers, but their use in solid tumors is limited by the lack of antigens that are sufficiently selective to avoid on‑target, off‑tumor toxicity
  • PRAME, a cancer‑testis antigen with highly tumor‑restricted expression, was identified as a promising solid‑tumor TCE target, and the PRAME₄₂₅ peptide presented by MHC‑I was validated as an attractive pMHC epitope for selective targeting
  • Novel antiPRAME₄₂₅ pMHC antibodies were discovered that specifically recognize the PRAME₄₂₅–MHC complex without binding to MHC alone or unrelated pMHCs, and when formatted into TCEs, they drive PRAME₄₂₅specific tumor cell killing— establishing a new class of antiPRAME pMHC biologics

5:00 pm Chair’s Closing Remarks

5:10 pm End of Conference Day One