Institute for International Research

IBC's Next Generation Protein Therapeutics Summit held recently at the Marriott San Francisco Airport shattered the attendance record from the 2009 conference with a whopping 80% growth. The event featured 4 conferences...Beyond Antibodies, Protein Engineering & Design, Immunogenicity of Biologics and Crossing the Barriers, which allowed attendees from different disciplines to cross-fertilize ideas and strategies for bringing the next generation of protein therapeutics to market.

Day one of the conference began with a keynote presentation by the inspiring Andreas Plukthun of the University of Zurich which described some of the cutting-edge work happening in his laboratory. This was followed by a sequence of presentations highlighting some of the preclinical and clinical progress of a variety of scaffolds being developed by companies such as Merck Serono, Bicycle Therapeutics, Covagen, GSK and Ablynx. Day one closed with several presentations on fusion proteins and conjugates and a session featuring FDA speaker Jack Ragheb which discussed some of the immunogenicity considerations and mitigation strategies that need to be dealt with in the development of novel biologics.

Day two marked the opening of the exhibition with a number of exhibitors displaying their products, technologies and services and a morning session featuring keynote presentations from James Marks, UCSF and Carlos Barbas from Scripps. A highlight of the morning was the presentation by Ruth Cordoba-Rodriguez who gave the FDA perspective on development of monoclonal antibodies vs. next generation antibodies and antibody alternatives. In her presentation, Ruth answered one of the lingering questions that came up during the 2009 conference last year regarding which division of the FDA regulated which type of protein product. Needless to say there was much discussion and Q&A following this talk. Day two also featured a very lively luncheon discussion session which gave attendees the opportunity to meet each other and discuss topics of common interest.

Day three began with a discussion of delivery strategies for alternative scaffolds, followed by a session on crossing the blood-brain barriers. Still packed on the final afternoon of the conference, the final session on engineering of improved drug-like properties featured numerous cutting edge protein engineering and design strategies and a packed roster of speakers. The presentation by Katja Arndt of the University of Freiburg left several attendees stunned at the caliber of science being performed in her laboratory and the potential contribution of her work to the development of the next generation of protein therapeutics.

Positive comments throughout the event from numerous attendees attested to the overall high quality of the scientific presentations, and an enthusiasm to see what progress would be achieved by next year's conference.

Save the Date for 2011!

Next year's conference will be held June 20-22, 2011 at the Hyatt at Fisherman's Wharf in downtown San Francisco. For more information about next year's event, please contact Michael Keenan at mkeenan@ibcusa.com.