Protein-Protein Interactions Icon

Cambridge Healthtech Institute’s 17th Annual

Protein-Protein Interactions

Small Molecule Lead Discovery and Optimization for Difficult Drug Targets

April 3-4, 2024

 

Cambridge Healthtech Institute's Protein-Protein Interactions (PPIs) conference covers discovery or design, and optimization of compounds that either disrupt or stabilize protein-protein or protein-nucleic acid complexes. Many of these protein complexes, which are often intracellular and therefore only amenable to cell-penetrating compounds such as small molecules, are crucial players in disease states. However, they have been typically considered ‘difficult-to-drug' because their flat interaction surfaces make the PPIs harder for small molecules to gain a foothold. Furthermore, they are not typically enzymes, so traditional high-throughput enzymatic assay-based screening for identifying small molecule drug leads hasn't been possible. Recent progress, however, in biophysical techniques that screen for molecular interactions rather than an enzymatic event, covalent drug discovery strategies, fragment-based ligand approaches, structure-based drug design, and other advances have spurred progress. Discovery of larger yet cell-permeable molecules such as macrocyclics has also furthered the field. Targeted protein degradation (TPD) 'destroy what you can't inhibit' approaches have also advanced the field and will be covered tangentially. Join fellow medicinal, biophysical, and structural chemists to learn the latest advances and share strategies.

 

Coverage will likely include:

 

  • Targeted Covalent Inhibitors (TCIs)
  • Induced-proximity approaches (beyond degradation purposes)
  • Biophysical approaches for PPIs and misfolded proteins
  • Structure-based design (SBD) techniques involving AI, cryo-EM and other innovations
  • Case studies on traditionally intractable targets (e.g., KRAS, p53 and other oncoproteins; viral complexes and neurodegeneration targets)
  • Molecular stabilizers and non-TPD glues

 

The deadline for priority consideration is September 15, 2023.

 

All proposals are subject to review by session chairpersons and/or the Scientific Advisory Committee to ensure the overall quality of the conference program. Additionally, as per Cambridge Healthtech Institute’s policy, a select number of vendors and consultants who provide products and services will be offered opportunities for podium presentation slots based on a variety of Corporate Sponsorships.

 

We hope you can join us for the 5 concurrent day-and-a-half conferences during each half of our 19th Annual Drug Discovery Chemistry event. Registering for this conference lets you also move back and forth among parallel programs to create your own agenda.

 

Opportunities for Participation:

 


For more details on the conference, please contact:

Anjani Shah, PhD

Senior Conference Director and Lead Content Director for Drug Discovery Chemistry

Cambridge Healthtech Institute

Phone: (+1) 781-247-6252

Email: ashah@healthtech.com

 

For sponsorship information, please contact:

Kristin Skahan

Senior Business Development Manager

Cambridge Healthtech Institute

Phone: (+1) 781-972-5431

Email: kskahan@healthtech.com