SUNDAY, APRIL 30 AFTERNOON 2:00 - 5:00 PM
Target Selection for Biologics
Instructor: William R Strohl, Ph.D., President, BiStro Biotech Consulting, LLC.
Biologics, as differentiated from small molecules, are typically used to target serum-soluble or cell surface targets. In this short course, we will explore the various types of targets available for biologics, the successes and failures of biologics on different target classes, and properties that make targets either good ones or not-so-good ones for biologics. Additionally, we will discuss new approaches to expand the target population for biologics and directions in which the field is headed. Finally, targets for bispecific antibody approaches will also be covered.
Topics to be covered include:
- Target classes for biologics
- Properties of targets that make them attractive or unattractive for biologics
- Targets for bispecific antibodies
- Difficult target classes including GPCRs and ion channels
- Potential new approaches for expanding the classes of targets for biologics
Instructor Bio:
William R. Strohl, Ph.D., President, BiStro Biotech Consulting, LLC.
Dr. William Strohl is founder and owner of BiStro Biotech Consulting LLC, a consulting company started in 2016 to help biotechnology companies grow and expand their programs and capabilities. Prior to retiring from Johnson & Johnson in August 2016, Dr. Strohl was VP and Head, Janssen BioTherapeutics, Janssen R&D, where he ran biologics discovery, early development, and technology development. As part of this job, he initiated new areas of research in gene and cell therapy to augment the long-standing traditional efforts in antibodies and protein therapeutics at J&J. Prior to that, Dr. Strohl was head of Biologics Research, the discovery arm of Janssen BioTherapeutics, in which he doubled the size and output of the biologics capabilities, and significantly improved antibody engineering of the clinical development candidates. Over his time at J&J, Dr. Strohl and his teams placed more than 30 highly innovative, novel biologics into development, many of which are still in clinical development today. Before joining J&J, Dr. Strohl was at Merck and Co from 1997-2008, leading Natural Products Biology, initiating a Microbial Vaccines department, and then later, leading the Biologics discovery efforts, where he was involved in two biotechnology company acquisitions and multiple licenses to improve the discovery capabilities. From 1980 to 1997, Dr. Strohl rose from Assistant to Full Professor in the Department of Microbiology and the Program of Biochemistry at The Ohio State University. There he pursued the molecular biology and biochemistry of polyketide biosynthesis pathways, particularly doxorubicin, in actinomycetes, and the physiology of E. coli in computer-controlled high cell density fermentations. Dr. Strohl, who is a noted leader in the area of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, has over 140 publications, 17 issued patents, edited two books in the area of biotechnology, and has recently written a book entitled "Therapeutic Antibody Engineering: Current and Future Advances Driving the Strongest Growth Area in the Pharma Industry", which was published in October, 2012.