Conference Day One

8:00 am Check-In & Morning Coffee

8:50 am Chair’s Opening Remarks

  • Hongyu Xue Director, In Vivo Pharmacology & Oncology Research, Bayer

Uncovering Different Perspectives on Model Selection Criteria to Develop a Consensus & Supercharge Oncology Drug Development

9:00 am Choosing the Best Humanized Mouse Model to Empower Drug Discovery

Synopsis

  • Highlighting the rationale behind selecting the model
  • Discussing methods to recreate key components of the tumor microenvironment
  • Spotlighting data indicating the translational relevance of remodeled mouse models in predicting clinical outcomes and guiding the development of novel therapies

9:30 am Spotlighting Lessons Learned from Employing in vivo Models to Enhance Targeted Small Molecules Through to Cell Therapy Development

Synopsis

  • Uncovering the rationale behind selection the models
  • Discussing the commonalities and difference when it comes to model selection across different modalities like small molecules, radioligands to cell therapies
  • Employing this knowledge to empower the development of different cell therapy modalities

10:00 am Speed Networking

Synopsis

As the Tumor Models community is reunited, this valuable session will ensure you get the chance to reconnect with peers and make brand new connections! This structured networking opportunity will pair you with fellow attendees for several 3-minute introductions, ensuring you have the opportunity to meet and network with your academic and industry colleagues.

10:30 am Morning Break & Networking

Drug Discovery & Screening

Track Chair: Suchismita Mohanty, Senior Scientist, ArsenalBio

11:00 am Leveraging a Transwell Co-Culture Model to Inform Imvax’s Goldspire® Platform Development

Synopsis

  • Sharing strategies to leverage a co-culture model to evaluate immune responses in an ex vivo context
  • Overcoming challenges with optimizing this model for vaccine development
  • Uncovering the translational relevance of this model to treat sold tumors

11:30 am Preclinical & Regulatory Considerations for ADC Discover

Synopsis

  • Critical in vitro assays for candidate selection
  • In vivo model selection for efficacy and biodistribution
  • Regulatory requirements and insights

Efficacy Evaluation & Biomarker Discovery

Track Chair: Hongyu Xue Director, In Vivo Pharmacology & Oncology Research Bayer

11:00 am Leveraging Humanized Mouse Models to Support T-Cell Engager Development

  • Nichole Escalante Senior Scientist & Group Lead - In Vivo Pharmacology & Pharmacokinetics Multispecific Antibody Therapeutics, Zymeworks

Synopsis

  • Selection rationale for humanized mouse models including PBMCs, transgenic and tox models (pros/cons for TCEs)
  • Case study evaluating T cell engagers with additional functionality
  • Strategies for addressing TCE tolerability in vivo

11:30 am Preclinical models for the Study of Cancer Drug Resistance

Synopsis

  • Hallmarks of cancer and drug resistance
  • Strategies to establish drug resistant models 
  • Case studies, insights and potential

12:00 pm Lunch Break

Drug Discovery & Screening

Track Chair: Suchismita Mohanty, Senior Scientist, ArsenalBio

1:00 pm Spotlighting Strategies to Develop in vivo Models to Support Ras Drug Development

Synopsis

  • Model selection rationale
  • Characterization of complex multi-parametric human tumor microenvironment
  • Robustness of model system to correlate the human clinical trial data

1:30 pm Enhanced Botanical Drugs for Cancer Therapeutics

Synopsis

  • Discussing the need for gentler metastatic cancer drugs and the benefits of botanical drugs
  • Assessing the types of models used to test efficacy of a botanical drug
  • Outlining next steps

Efficacy Evaluation & Biomarker Discovery

Track Chair: HongyuXue Director, In Vivo Pharmacology & Oncology Research Bayer

1:00 pm Roundtable Discussion: Reverse Translation: Unlocking Precision Medicine Through Clinical Data

Synopsis

  • How far have we come in bedside-to-benchtop research?
  • How can clinical data robustly connect human immune data with in vivo models?
  • Uncovering future uses of reverse translation to transform approaches to precision medicine

1:30 pm Leveraging Preclinical Tumor Models to Aid Targeted Cytokine Therapy

Synopsis

  • Understanding the rationale behind choosing the tumor models in this study
  • Evaluating tumor efficacy and toxicity in mouse models to assess tumor response to treatment
  • Combination dosing strategies of the IL-2 variant with bispecifics and CAR-T therapies

2:00 pm Scientific Poster Session & Refreshments Break

Interrogating Different Model Selection Criteria for Different Indications & Modalities & Employing Digital Pathology to Better Understand Your Preclinical Models

3:00 pm Leveraging Genomic, Clinical, & Drug Response Data in the Age of AI

  • Michael Boice Senior Director, Scientific Engagement and Key Accounts, Certis Oncology

Synopsis

  • The growing importance of tumor model characterization data 
  • Leveraging predictive AI to analyze tumor characterization data and evaluate drug response in silico
  • Using the latest in generative AI for efficient data retrieval and ad hoc analyses

3:30 pm Fireside chat: How Do You Choose the Right Tumor Model for Your Preclinical Study?

Synopsis

  • Uncovering perspectives from various targets, a range of underlying biology, and multiple therapeutic modalities
  • What are you finding challenging to model in mice?
  • Lessons learned dealing with costs rising, internalizing vs externalizing studies, resources and availability of tool molecules, and other logistical challenges

4:00 pm Presence Of Myeloid & Lymphoid Cells Are Key for Translational Tumor Biology, Efficacy & Safety Assessment In Humanized Mouse Models

  • Kader Thiam Senior Vice President - Discovery, Preclinical Models & Services, GenOway

Synopsis

  • Outlining BRGSF-HIS mice: Immunodeficient mice displaying functional human lymphoid and myeloid compartments, without GvHD and side effects
  • Investigating human immune cell recruitment into tumor microenvironment
  • Examining myeloid cells functionality and their contribution to translatable safety assessment of therapies

4:30 pm Building a Gold Standard to Implement Digital Pathology in Oncology Drug Development

  • Si Wu Senior Bioinformatics Scientist - Computational Oncology, Abbvie

Synopsis

  • Best practice to harness spatial biology tools including transcriptomics/proteomics/multiomics to improve understanding of your data read-outs
  • Leveraging spatial data to refine patient stratification methods and enhance the design of future clinical trials for improved treatment outcomes

5:00 pm Chair’s Closing Remarks

  • Hongyu Xue Director, In Vivo Pharmacology & Oncology Research, Bayer