Explore the Agenda
8:00 am Morning Coffee & Check-in
8:55 am Chair’s Opening Remarks
Enhancing T-Cell Precision & Activation: Strategies to Overcome Tumor Heterogeneity & Maximize Bispecific Efficacy
9:00 am Supercharging T Cell Engagers: Expanding Immune Activation Beyond Traditional Bispecific Design
- Unlocking innate immunity by introducing a novel approach to load innate immune cells with a T cell engager receptor, enabling engagement by existing T cell engagers in vivo
- From T cell engager to multi-cell engager: Enhancing approved T cell engager therapies to recruit both adaptive and innate immune arms for broader, more durable anti-tumor responses
- Thinking beyond traditional Bispecifics by demonstrating how existing T cell engages can be repurposed to drive wider immune activation without altering their structure or target affinity
9:30 am Beyond Bispecifics: Tetraspecific T Cell Engagers to Enhance T Cell Activation & Overcome Tumor Heterogeneity & Antigen Loss
- A modular tetraspecific antibody platform to maximize the “power of multispecifics” and target complex diseases
- Combining CD3 and CD28 to mimic physiological T cell activation and promote optimal T cells survival and function
- Targeting two tumor antigens with one molecule to address tumor heterogeneity and minimize escape
10:00 am Conditionally Active CD2 Co-Stimulatory DLL3 T-Cell Engager With Increased Efficacy & Minimal Cytokin Release Compared to TarlatamabTM in Small Cell Lung Cancer & Neuroendocrine Tumors
- Built-in CD2 Costimulation in DLL3 T cell engager (TCE) enhances CD3 synapse formation and signaling to increase tumor killing in Small Cell Lung Cancer (SLC)
- Conditional Activation of TCE only in the presence of antigen engagement overcomes cytokine release syndrome associated with conventional TCEs
- Shows increased efficacy and safety for SLC tumor killing in vitro and in humanized SLC tumor models compared to approved TCE, TarlatamabTM
10:30 am Morning break
11:00 am Companion T Cell Engagers for Covalent Inhibitors of Oncoproteins Blend Targeted & Immune Therapy to Overcome Cancer Cell Resistance
- Exploring how the lack of durability of targeted therapy with covalent inhibitors of oncoproteins can be addressed with immune therapy – Looking at how MHC presentation of the covalently modified oncoprotein peptides on the cancer cell surface creates synthetic neoantigens (p*MHC) that can be targeted by antibodies with picomolar affinity and cross-HLA specificity
- Converting to p*MHC × CD3 T cell engagers to create a unique combination of targeted and immune therapy with the potential to impede cancer cell resistance
- Assessing preclinical proof-of-concept studies based on covalent inhibitors of oncoprotein KRAS G12C
Leverage Lessons from Bispecific ADC Development to Improve Dual-Target Engagement
11:30 am Engineering Bispecific & Bipartopic ADCs for Dual-Target Engagement: Overcoming Design Challenges
- Looking at the design of the Bipartopic JK06 to balance the target biology and payload safety and tolerability profile
- Navigating the challenges of designing Bispecific and Bipartopic ADCs – exploring how ADCs can be engineered to recognize the antigens for both target cells, to then internalize in the cells
- Investigating a case study of dual targeting with a Bispecific ADC to take away learnings on overcoming design challenges with dual-target engagement
12:00 pm Lunch Break
Exploring Bispecific Combination Therapies & Masking Techniques for Expanding Tumour Target Landscape & Increased Specificity
1:00 pm From Bispecifics to Tetraspecifics: Multiple Targets, One Drug
- Bi- vs Tri- vs Tetra-specific Antibodies
- Tri-specifics can physiologically activate T cells and be well tolerated (eg HER2-CD3-CD28)
- Tetra-specifics can tackle antigen heterogeneity and loss, while physiologically activating T cells
1:30 pm Exploring Masking Technology to Enhance Specificity & Cytotoxic Activity of Bispecifics
- Overview of the masking technology and engineering approaches for enhanced tissue specificity of bispecifics
- Choice of optimal substrate specificity for tumor-associated protease-mediated prodrug activation
- In vitro safety assessments for reduced systemic toxicity for the design of nextgeneration cancer therapeutics
Integrating Translational Feedback to Refine Bispecific Design & Function Across Development Stages
2:00 pm Roundtable Discussion: Bridging Biology & Translation: Optimizing Bispecific Design Through Cross-Continuum Insight
This roundtable will explore how bidirectional translational research can be more effectively used to inform bispecific drug development across discovery, preclinical, and clinical stages. Participants will discuss how to better integrate biological understanding within specific disease contexts, refine in vitro models to improve predictive value, and close mechanistic gaps through real-time feedback between clinical and nonclinical functions. The discussion will also consider how costimulatory pathways and immune modulators can be evaluated to fine-tune bispecific functionality and therapeutic outcomes.
- How can we improve communication and alignment between translational, preclinical, and clinical teams during bispecific development?
- In what ways can in vitro design and validation be enhanced to more accurately predict in vivo pharmacology and safety?
- What are the biggest current gaps in mechanistic understanding of bispecifics that hinder clinical translation?
- How do we assess whether immune modulatory and costimulatory signals are functioning as expected in early development?
- What models or translational strategies have proven most effective in iterating bispecific designs for specific disease settings?