MONDAY, APRIL 8 - TUESDAY, APRIL 9
DAY 1: 8:30 AM - 12:30 PM | DAY 2: 8:30 AM - 5:25 PM (Washington)

TS10A: INTRODUCTION TO STRUCTURE-BASED DRUG DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT

DAY 1: MONDAY

8:30 am - 12:30 pm Seminar Sessions

2:20 - 3:20 pm Problem Solving Roundtables

4:00 - 5:40 pm Plenary Session

5:40 - 7:15 pm Welcome Reception

DAY 2: TUESDAY

8:30 am - 5:25 pm Seminar Sessions

12:30 - 1:00 pm Lunch Provided

Exhibit Hall Refreshment Breaks also provided.

Instructors:

Christopher Corbeil, PhD, Research Officer, Human Health Therapeutics, National Research Council Canada

Traian Sulea, PhD, Senior Research Officer, Human Health Therapeutics, National Research Council Canada

CHI’s Introduction to Structure-based Biologics Design, Optimization and Development offers an introduction to the concepts, strategies and tools of structure-based drug design, optimization and development. The seminar consists of presentations and live demonstrations of some of the common computational tools used in the field. We will cover techniques to triage therapeutics sequences, modulate affinity, create novel constructs (such as Fc-fusions, bispecifics, protein traps, …) along with increasing the manufacturability of a biologic. The class is directed at scientists new to the industry, academic scientists and career protein engineers wanting an introduction into how structure can aid in guiding experimental design.

Seminar Outline:

• Basics of Structural Modeling
• What is molecular modeling and where does it fit into drug discovery
• Finding the right structure and how to prepare it
• Affinity & Specificity
• Examining interactions & predicting binding affinity
• Structure-based specificity optimization
• Introducing avidity
• Engineering Therapeutic Constructs
• Bispecific antibody engineering
• Rational design of fusions proteins
• Modulation of Biological Functions
• Pharmacokinetics
• immune effector functions
• ADC design
• Structure-Based Developability Assessment
• Folding, chemical and proteolytic stability
• Aggregation
• In silico immunogenicity predictions
• Humanization by design

Instructor Biographies:

Christopher Corbeil, PhD, Research Officer, Human Health Therapeutics, National Research Council Canada

Christopher received his Ph.D. from McGill University under the supervision of Prof. Nicolas Moitessier. After his Ph.D., he joined the National Research Council of Canada (NRC) as a Research Associate under the supervision of Dr. Enrico Purisima investigating solvation and protein loop searching. Following his time at the NRC he joined Chemical Computing Group as a Research Scientist developing tools for biologics design. After 4 years, he decided to leave private industry and rejoin NRC as a Research Officer focusing on investigating tools for computer-aided biologics design.

Traian Sulea, PhD, Senior Research Officer, Human Health Therapeutics, National Research Council Canada

Dr. Traian Sulea has joined NRC Canada at its Biotechnology Research Institute in Montreal as a post-doctoral fellow in 1995, and as a Research Officer in 1997. He is also cross-appointed as Adjunct Professor with the Institute of Parasitology of McGill University since 2012. Dr. Sulea has broad expertise in applying computational approaches to the discovery and optimization of bioactive small-molecules and biologics. He has contributed to the development of computational methods for biomolecular applications, focusing on continuum solvation models and binding-affinity scoring functions. In recent years, he applied computational structural modeling to the design of biotherapeutics including growth-factor traps and avidity-optimized Intellimabs for tumor targeting, as well as to antibody humanization, affinity maturation and de novo design. Dr. Sulea has authored over 80 scientific articles and book chapters, and is an inventor on 10 issued and 8 pending patents.

What is a Training Seminar?

Each Training Seminar offers 1.5 Days of instruction with start and stop times for each day shown above and on the Event-at-a-Glance published in the onsite Program & Event Guide. Training Seminars will include morning and afternoon refreshment breaks, as applicable, and lunch will be provided to all registered attendees on the full day of the class.

Each person registered specifically for the training seminar will be provided with a hard copy handbook for the seminar in which they are registered. A limited number of additional handbooks will be available for other delegates who wish to attend the seminar, but after these have been distributed no additional books will be available.

Though CHI encourages track and symposia hopping between conference programs, we ask that Training Seminars not be disturbed once they have begun. In the interest of maintaining the highest quality learning environment for Training Seminar attendees, and because Seminars are conducted differently than conference programming, we ask that attendees commit to attending the entire program, and NOT engaging in track hopping, as to not disturb the hands-on style instruction being offered to the other participants.