22
October

08:00 AM BST

Drug Discovery Biology

Name: Drug Discovery Biology & Bioinformatics Strategy Meeting Europe 2024
Start: 2024-10-22T08:00
End: 2024-10-22T18:00
Location: Crowne Plaza, London Docklands

&

Bioinformatics

Strategy Meeting Europe 2024

Pushing our understanding of the physiological context and quality of drug target characterisation, validation, and safety profiling throughout the preclinical space

Crowne Plaza London Docklands

A MEETING EXPERIENCE UNLIKE ANY OTHER

Fresh Biology Insights

Tired of the same conference experience? Real discussions and genuine networking are often promised, but not always delivered. Proventa International’s R&D Strategy Meetings are designed to avoid the pitfalls of a typical conference, by providing the right environment to make those important connections through interactive roundtable discussions, exclusive networking and keynote panel debates. Join Biology professionals from across Europe, to discover new insights and take your company’s mission to the next level.

What makes our strategy meetings unique?

Roundtable Discussions

Intimate discussions led by renowned industry experts. Have your voice heard and debate alongside like-minded life science executives.

Unrivalled Networking

With senior delegation from big pharma and innovative biotech from across Europe, you can network with peers from different locations, all in one place.

Personalised Agenda

Choose the topics that matter to you. Reserve your place at the roundtable discussions and ensure your whole day delivers the insights you need to hear.

Solutions to your Problems

We’ve partnered with the best solution providers to solve your biggest challenges. Engage in pre-arranged, private meetings to address your specific needs and find a tangible solution.

Industry Researched Topics

We guarantee our agenda is up-to-date and mission critical because its designed by you. We speak to our extended network of senior decision makers to ensure the most important topics are discussed.

Senior Decision Makers

The entire strategy meeting is specifically tailored to the needs and challenges of senior life science professionals. Discover how your peers are dealing with the same challenges as you.

Meet Our Facilitators

Our panel of facilitators play a key role in shaping the agenda for the day. See who will be bringing their expertise to the table at our upcoming strategy meeting.

Andy Yates

Chief Scientific Officer Artelo Biosciences

Chandan Seth Nanda

Entrepreneur in Residence Antler

Spearheading innovation at Pear Bio as Vice President of Target & Drug Discovery, her journey weaves a narrative of precision in oncology drug discovery. With a focus on early-phase drug discovery, HIT and LEAD identification, and biomarker integration, her expertise lays the groundwork for transformative cancer therapies. The strategic roadmap she helped develop for small biopharma positions Pear Bio at the forefront of the competitive oncology landscape. 
Her tenure with Pear Bio has been marked by the successful inception of drug discovery programs and securing substantial Series A funding, highlighting their company’s ascent in precision medicine. 
Collaboratively working with KOLs and CROs, she contributed to the success of Pear Bio as a companion diagnostics and targeted drug discovery company. In conjunction with our team, she is committed to delivering precision cancer therapeutics, fostering novel assets, and amplifying opportunities for the company.

Dawid Walas

Director (Head) of Functional Genomics and Proteomics Servier

George Okafo

Program Director and Global Head of Healthcare Data and Analytics Unit Boehringer Ingelheim

Lassina Badolo

Executive Director – Head of DMPK, Early Respiratory & Immunology AstraZeneca

Laura Towart

Founder & CEO Vivan Therapeutics

Mary Spanou

Regional Sales Manager Pelago Biosciences

Matthew Beard

Senior Director External Innovation Ipsen

Max Salm

Director, Bioinformatics Achilles Therapeutics

Stephen Harrison

Former CSO Nucleome Therapeutics

Stina Lundgren

Head of Business Development Pelago Biosciences

First name	Last name	Job title	Company name	Photo URL	Bio Position
Andy	Yates	Chief Scientific Officer	Artelo Biosciences	https://proventainternational.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/ANDY-YATES.jpg	Dr. Andrew Yates, Ph.D., is the Senior Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer at Artelo Biosciences. As a pharmacist with a PhD in cannabinoid medicinal chemistry from the University of Nottingham, UK, Dr. Yates brings extensive experience from his tenure at AstraZeneca, where he played significant roles in development, commercial strategy, and medical affairs. At Artelo, Dr. Yates is tasked with advancing the company’s research and development in developing therapies for anorexia, cancer, anxiety, and pain, showcasing a commitment to addressing significant unmet medical needs.
Chandan	Seth Nanda	Entrepreneur in Residence	Antler	https://proventainternational.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Chandan-Seth-Nanda-1.jpg	Spearheading innovation at Pear Bio as Vice President of Target & Drug Discovery, her journey weaves a narrative of precision in oncology drug discovery. With a focus on early-phase drug discovery, HIT and LEAD identification, and biomarker integration, her expertise lays the groundwork for transformative cancer therapies. The strategic roadmap she helped develop for small biopharma positions Pear Bio at the forefront of the competitive oncology landscape. Her tenure with Pear Bio has been marked by the successful inception of drug discovery programs and securing substantial Series A funding, highlighting their company’s ascent in precision medicine. Collaboratively working with KOLs and CROs, she contributed to the success of Pear Bio as a companion diagnostics and targeted drug discovery company. In conjunction with our team, she is committed to delivering precision cancer therapeutics, fostering novel assets, and amplifying opportunities for the company.
Dawid	Walas	Director (Head) of Functional Genomics and Proteomics	Servier	https://proventainternational.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/David-Wallas.jpg	Dawid Walas is a molecular biologist with over a decade of expertise in next-generation sequencing (NGS) and bioinformatics. His work spans academia and industry, including leadership roles in R&D, GMP, and clinical settings. Currently, he is the Director of Functional Genomics and Proteomics at Servier, where he leads an interdisciplinary team and manages multi-omics platforms. He previously held directorial positions at Merck KGaA, where he pioneered novel NGS workflows and contributed to COVID-19 vaccine development. His career reflects a commitment to advancing molecular biology through disruptive technologies and strategic innovation
George	Okafo	Program Director and Global Head of Healthcare Data and Analytics Unit	Boehringer Ingelheim	https://proventainternational.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/George-Okafo.jpg	R&D leader (30+ years) with a track record of building expert teams delivering innovative solutions. Currently, Director/Head of Healthcare Data Analytics group, his global team has deployed an industry-scale TRE-compliant data analytics platform enabling users to access/ingest/integrate data at scale; established global portfolio of genetically diverse human healthcare datasets. Previously, he held Senior Director/Director level roles at In-Silico Medicine (Entrepreneur-in-Residence/Brain Cancer program Leader), SmithKline Beecham and GlaxoSmithKline leading R&D projects and delivering data-driven innovative solutions. Graduated from Imperial College, London with BSc Joint Hons (Chemistry/Biochemistry); PhD, (Chemical Carcinogenesis); Completed my Postdoctoral Fellowship (N-Nitrosamine-induced Cancers)
Lassina	Badolo	Executive Director – Head of DMPK, Early Respiratory & Immunology	AstraZeneca	https://proventainternational.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Lassina-Badolo.jpg	Mr. Lassina Badolo graduated from the Free University of Brussels where he took his Ph.D. in Analytical Chemistry and in vitro Toxicology. After a brief Post-Doc in Strasbourg, he joined Lundbeck AS (Denmark) and worked in preclinical DMPK for 6 years followed by 12 years in Discovery DMPK. Lassina has more than 20 years of experience in DMPK from the pharma industry and academia (as an Associate Professor from the University of Copenhagen). Lassina Badolo has over the years had increasing responsibility and is currently director of Discovery NCE Drug Disposition at Merck KgaA in Darmstadt. He has published more than 30 papers.
Laura	Towart	Founder & CEO	Vivan Therapeutics	https://proventainternational.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Laura-Towart-1.jpg	Laura founded My Personal Therapeutics to advance a ground breaking personalised approach to cancer developed at Mt Sinai Medical Center. Laura became passionate about personalised medicine during her PhD studies at Weill Cornell Graduate School for Medical Sciences/Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. Since then she has been actively involved in translational advances in medicine. In 2008 she co-founded Celmatix, and was the founding CEO, and helped build a next-generation women’s health company leveraging big-data and genomics. Laura is an avid startup and technology strategist and angel investor, with a focus on personalised medicine. Laura is driven to help develop and foster biotechnology communities globally, and is an active advisor, speaker and mentor.
Mary	Spanou	Regional Sales Manager	Pelago Biosciences	https://proventainternational.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Mary-Spanou.jpg
Matthew	Beard	Senior Director External Innovation	Ipsen	https://proventainternational.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Matthew-Beard.jpg	Matt has been a member of Ipsen’s External Innovation teams since 2021. His role is to identify, evaluate and build internal championship for acquisition of new drug programmes in Rare Disease and Neurology therapeutic areas. Transacted deals include global license agreements bringing two pre-clinical, and one phase 2 asset into Ipsen’s pipeline. Matt is a scientist by training led neurology drug discovery projects before moving to external innovation.
Max	Salm	Director, Bioinformatics	Achilles Therapeutics	https://proventainternational.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Max-Salm.jpg
Stephen	Harrison	Former CSO	Nucleome Therapeutics	https://proventainternational.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Stephen-Harrison.jpg
Stina	Lundgren	Head of Business Development	Pelago Biosciences	https://proventainternational.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Stina-Lundgren.jpg

Andy Yates, Chandan Seth Nanda, Dawid Walas, George Okafo, Lassina Badolo, Laura Towart, Mary Spanou, Matthew Beard, Max Salm, Stephen Harrison, Stina Lundgren

Our Agenda

See Which Topics Are Discussed at the Strategy Meeting

08:30 – 09:00

Using Human Genetic Data to Inform Drug Discovery

PRESENTER: Stephen Harrison, Chief Scientific Officer, Nucleome Therapeutics

09:00 – 10:00

Roundtable Tracks

TARGET IDENTIFICATION & HIT VALIDATION
Target validation and small molecule hit identification in the era of modern drug discovery

-Chandan Seth Nanda
Entrepreneur in Residence
Antler

DMPK / ADME & TOXICOLOGY
Predicting toxicology with higher accuracy through AI empowerment and Clinical Data support for future drug discovery

IN SILICO BIOLOGY / AI & ML
Decoding Omics Data Interpretation, Integration, and Application in Drug Discovery through the lense of In Silico Biology

BIOINFORMATICS / DATA INTEGRATION & DATA MINING
Discussing empirical methods in instituting a data-driven drug discovery

-Dawid Walas
Director (Head) of Functional Genomics and Proteomics
Servier

STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIPS, INVESTMENT & BST COLLABORATIONS
Win-win partnerships between Biotech and Pharma: Creating value in drug discovery

-Matthew Beard
Senior Director External Innovation
Ipsen

11:10 – 12:10

Roundtable Tracks

TARGET IDENTIFICATION & HIT VALIDATION
Challenges of Target Validation for Genetically Identified Disease Targets

-Stephen Harrison
Former CSO
Nucleome Therapeutics

DMPK / ADME & TOXICOLOGY
New Modalities in Modern Drug Discovery: Challenges and Opportunities in DMPK to understand drug disposition and predict human therapeutic doses

-Lassina Badolo
Executive Director – Head of DMPK, Early Respiratory & Immunology
AstraZeneca

IN SILICO BIOLOGY / AI & ML
Evaluating practical uses of latest AI/ML tools to expedite and increase efficiency in drug discovery process

-Dawid Walas
Director (Head) of Functional Genomics and Proteomics
Servier

BIOINFORMATICS / DATA INTEGRATION & DATA MINING
Challenges in sharing, ingestion and integrating healthcare data compliantly, at scale and in a harmonized manner

-George Okafo
Program Director and Global Head of Healthcare Data and Analytics Unit
Boehringer Ingelheim

STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIPS, INVESTMENT & BST COLLABORATIONS
Strategic Partnerships in Drug Discovery: Navigating Pharma-Biotech Ecosystems and Industry-Academia Alliances

-Laura Towart
Founder & CEO
Vivan Therapeutics

12:10 – 13:30

14:20 – 14:50

The Cellular Thermal Shift Assay: How Assessment of Target Engagement Accelerates Drug Discovery

PRESENTER: Stina Lundgren, Head of Business Development, Pelago Biosciences PRESENTER: Mary Spanou, Regional Sales Manager, Pelago Biosciences

14:50 – 15:50

Roundtable Tracks

TARGET IDENTIFICATION & HIT VALIDATION
Navigating the Complexities of Target Identification and Hit Validation in Drug Discovery

-Matthew Beard
Senior Director External Innovation
Ipsen

DMPK / ADME & TOXICOLOGY
From Bench to Bedside: Overcoming Hurdles in Translating In Vitro Findings

IN SILICO BIOLOGY / AI & ML
Data Deluge: Managing and Mining Big Data in In Silico Biology with AI & ML

-Andy Yates
Chief Scientific Officer
Artelo Biosciences

BIOINFORMATICS / DATA INTEGRATION & DATA MINING
Beyond the Genome: Challenges in Integrating Multi-Omics Data for Comprehensive Analysis

-Max Salm
Director, Bioinformatics
Achilles Therapeutics

STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIPS, INVESTMENT & BST COLLABORATIONS
Adapting to Market and Regulatory Challenges in Strategic Drug Discovery Partnerships

16:00 – 16:30

Partnering Drug Development Programs between Biotech and Pharmaceutical Companies

PRESENTER:Matthew Beard Senior Director External Innovation Ipsen

Europe

USA East

USA West

Webinars

Dinners & Spotlights

R&D

R&D Europe

Bioinformatics & Drug Discovery Biology Strategy Meeting Europe 2025

&

Strategy Meeting Europe 2024

<img class="lazy" decoding="async" src="data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg'%20viewBox='0%200%201%201'%3E%3C/svg%3E" data-src="https://proventainternational.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/location.png" >Crowne Plaza London Docklands

Fresh Biology Insights

What makes our strategy meetings unique?

Roundtable Discussions

Unrivalled Networking

Personalised Agenda

Solutions to your Problems

Industry Researched Topics

Senior Decision Makers

Meet Our Facilitators

Andy Yates

Chandan Seth Nanda

Dawid Walas

George Okafo

Lassina Badolo

Laura Towart

Mary Spanou

Matthew Beard

Max Salm

Stephen Harrison

Stina Lundgren

Our Agenda

See Which Topics Are Discussed at the Strategy Meeting

Breakfast & Registration

Opening Keynote Presentation

Using Human Genetic Data to Inform Drug Discovery

Roundtable ( Pharma/Biotech )

Roundtable Tracks

Refreshment Break

Networking/1-1 Meetings

Roundtable

Roundtable Tracks

Networking Lunch

Networking / 1-1 Meetings

Afternoon Keynote Presentation

The Cellular Thermal Shift Assay: How Assessment of Target Engagement Accelerates Drug Discovery

Roundtable ( Pharma / Biotech)

Roundtable Tracks

Afternoon Refreshment Break

Panel Discussion

Partnering Drug Development Programs between Biotech and Pharmaceutical Companies

Drinks Canapes Reception

Reasons To Attend Our Strategy Meetings

Fully Interactive Format

Senior Decision Makers

Personalised Agendas

Private and Intimate Networking

Our Sponsors

Partnering Sponsors

Key Opinion Leader

Our 2024 Media Partners

Become an official strategy meeting partner

Testimonials

Hotel & Venue

Crowne Plaza London Docklands

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Crowne Plaza London Docklands