Precision payloads: enhancing potency and selectivity

Tuesday 08:00 PST / 11:00 EST / 16:00 GMT / 17:00 CET

Sponsor

Precision payloads: enhancing potency and selectivity

Bioconjugate-based therapeutics continue to expand both in terms of target indications and platform innovation. As modalities diversify from ADCs towards oligonucleotides, peptides, proteins, and nanoparticles, the demands on payload design have grown more sophisticated. Achieving the optimal balance between potency, selectivity, stability, and safety is central to unlocking the full therapeutic potential of the next generation of conjugates.

This expert panel will explore the strategic and scientific considerations shaping precision payload development across the bioconjugation landscape. The session will examine how chemists, biologists, and translational researchers are innovating in payload engineering to improve therapeutic windows, overcome resistance mechanisms, and broaden the applicability of bioconjugates to new therapeutic targets.

Drawing on perspectives from across the field, this discussion will highlight emerging technologies and design principles that are defining the future of payload optimization, and by extension, the future growth of the bioconjugation field.

Attend this webinar to:

Gain insights into precision payload strategies and how they influence potency, selectivity, and therapeutic index
Learn how advances in payload chemistry, linker engineering, and targeting strategies are shaping the next –generation of bioconjugates
Understand how translational and preclinical learnings guide payload optimization across diverse bioconjugate classes
Hear expert perspectives on emerging research directions and technological needs that will influence future development across the bioconjugation field

Vincent Rotello

Professor of Chemistry at University of Massachusetts

Vincent Rotello is the Charles A. Goessmann Professor of Chemistry and University Distinguished Professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. He earned his BSc from Illinois Institute of Technology (1985) and PhD from Yale (1990), followed by an NSF postdoctoral fellowship at MIT.

Since joining UMass in 1993, he has received numerous awards, including the Arthur C. Cope Scholar Award (2023) and the Transformational Research and Excellence in Education Award (2016). A Fellow of AAAS and the Royal Society of Chemistry, he is a Highly Cited Researcher (2014–2024).

His research bridges synthetic organic chemistry and biology, focusing on nanotechnology, bioconjugation, nanomedicine, and diagnostics, with over 690 peer-reviewed papers published.

David Thurston

Emeritus Professor of Drug Discovery at Kings College London

David Thurston is Emeritus Professor of Drug Discovery in the Institute of Pharmaceutical Science (IPS) at King’s College London. He has a first degree in Pharmacy, an MSc in Precision Medicine, and a PhD in synthetic medicinal chemistry.

David’s academic research team discovered the first example of a C8-linked DNA-interactive Pyrrolobenzodiazepine (PBD) dimer, and, in 2000, he co-founded the oncology biotech company Spirogen Ltd (now part of AstraZeneca) to commercialise this technology, acting as its CSO until 2011. The PBD dimer technology was licenced to a Spirogen spin-out company, Antibody-Drug Conjugate Technology (ADCT), which led to the approval of the ADC loncastuximab tesirine-lpyl (ZynlontaTM) in 2021, a treatment for diffuse large B-cell lymphomas.

In 2015, he co-founded the King’s College spin-out company Femtogenix Ltd, which specialised in the design and synthesis of novel ADC payloads, acting as its CSO until 2022. At this point, the company raised Series A funding and transitioned into Pheon Therapeutics Ltd, which is now a clinical-stage ADC company.

David has published widely in the medicinal chemistry area, is the author of the textbook Chemistry and Pharmacology of Anticancer Drugs, and was Editor-in-Chief of the Drug Discovery book series of the Royal Society of Chemistry until 2023.

Christian Marsolais

Consultant, previously Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer at Theratechnologies

Christian Marsolais, PhD, has over 30 years of experience in drug discovery, translational development, and clinical advancement of targeted therapeutics, with a particular emphasis on drug conjugates and receptor-mediated delivery platforms in oncology. Before joining Theratechnologies in 2007, he was part of Pfizer’s global oncology organization and previously held scientific and development roles at Sandoz (now Novartis) and Biochem Pharma.

Dr. Marsolais played a central role in Theratechnologies’ acquisition of Katana Biopharma, leading to the internalization of the SORT1 Technology™ platform, a receptor-targeted delivery system enabling selective payload uptake in tumor cells and the tumor microenvironment. This platform underpins the development of sudocetazel zendusortide, a first-in-class peptide–drug conjugate designed to exploit SORT1-mediated internalization.

He holds a PhD in Biochemistry from the Université de Montréal and has contributed extensively to the development and lifecycle management of complex biologics and conjugates across therapeutic areas, including HIV.