3rd Alpine Winter Conference on Medicinal and Synthetic Chemistry

 Virtual Event    January 24-28, 2022

Topics

For each of the below topics, a slot in the programme will be available for an oral communication to be selected out of the submitted abstracts.

 

  • Session 1 : Methodologies to Understand Cellular Target Interaction
Session Chair : Prof. Per ARTURSSON, Uppsala University, Sweden
 
Exposure at the site of action and target engagement have been identified as two of the most important factors for success in drug discovery and the design of chemical probes. Knowledge about these factors are more important than ever, given that drug discovery programs have, to a great extent, shifted to intracellular targets. This, together with a renewed and expanded interest in new drug modalities with inherently poor membrane permeability has encouraged investigations into new methodologies to understand, improve and predict cellular target interaction. In this session, new approaches for improved prediction and understanding of intracellular exposure and target engagement are presented.
 
  • Session 2 : The "Catalytic Cycle" of Complex Molecule Synthesis and Methodology Development
Session Chair : Prof. Tanja GAICH, University of Konstanz, Germany
 
Complex molecule synthesis and synthetic methodology development are closely entangled to each other. 

In the past and present, research in either field have proven to strongly impact each other, thereby advancing the science of synthesis. 

The session will highlight such advancements,  provide insights into the ongoing challenges in the fields, and give an outlook and perspective on the direction taken by organic synthesis.

These advancements serve to meet the ever more increasing needs for diverse, tailor-made synthetic tools, to enable rationale and practical construction of complex organic architectures.

  • Session 3 : Understanding PK and PK/PD relationships in drug discovery - Target Mediated Drug Disposition
Session Chair : Dr Stephanie HARLFINGER, AstraZeneca, United Kingdom
 

Optimizing PK properties has long become a cornerstone of medicinal chemistry compound optimization, generating an understanding of the exposure-effect relationship is integral to successfully bringing forward clinical candidates. In this session we address how the phenomenon of target mediated drug disposition for small and large molecules impacts PK behaviour and how it is pre-clinically explored and dealt with. We focus on educational background as well as real-life case studies on how PK/PD assessments impact compound design / selection in drug discovery projects. 

  • Session 4 : Increasing sp3 Fragment Options: Advances in the Synthesis of Small Ring Systems
Session Chair : Dr James MOUSSEAU, Halda Therapeutics, United States
 
Moving away from the 'aryl flatland', in addition to developing new structural motifs to improve drug-like properties remains a key topic of interest in drug discovery, and presents an intriguing difficult challenge to synthetic organic chemistry. Moving towards increased sp3 character in targeted pharmacologically relevant molecules often leads to improved property space, while simultaneously opening new vectors accessible to drug design. Developing chemistry around small strained rings has pushed the boundaries of known synthetic methods, leading to continued development of new techniques and methodologies. This session will celebrate these advances, and reaffirm the advantages of small strained ring in the search of pharmacologically relevant compounds.
 
  • Session 5 : Targeting Unstructured Proteins
Session Chair : Dr Hasane RATNI, F. Hoffmann-La Roche, Switzerland
 

  • Session 6 : Covalent Targeting: Innovating for the Future
Session Chair : Dr Vishal VERMA, Genentech, Inc., United States
 
The increasing acceptance of covalently targeted warheads for drug discovery has opened doors to previously undruggable targets, such as KRAS G12C which now has multiple compounds progressing through the clinic.  The vast majority of recently reported warheads utilize 1,4-Michael acceptors as electrophiles for reaction with cysteine, despite a long history of other types of warheads such as beta-lactam antibiotics.  This seminar will seek to showcase examples of non-acrylamide warheads in the targeting of a variety of amino acid residues in order to continue to expand the range of druggable targets, including those beyond oncology.  Medicinal chemistry considerations will include both Kd and kinact optimization as well as pharmacokinetics and safety applications.
 
  • Session 7 : Automation and Machine Learning Applications for Medicinal Chemistry
Session Chair : Dr Michael WLEKLINSKI, Merck & Co., Inc., United States
 
Pharmaceutical drug discovery and development is an exhaustive process often taking 20 years to achieve regulatory approval for a single therapy. Advancements in laboratory automation and machine learning are starting to accelerate pharmaceutical R&D by improving access to diverse chemical matter and the speed of drug discovery. The focus of this session is at the intersection of research in the fields of medicinal chemistry, theoretical chemistry, analytical sciences, computer science, and robotics. This session will provide paramagnetic examples of machine learning and automation including the use of intelligent robots for high-throughput experimentation in medicinal chemistry and autonomous reaction optimization strategies.
 
  • Session 8 : Drug Discovery Tales
Session Chair : Dr Nadia AHMAD, Charles River Laboratories, United Kingdom
 
This session will be put together by selected proposals out of the abstract submissions.