Elrig 2018: Drug discovery using small and large molecules

The Drug Target Review team are attending Elrig 2018 today at the London ExCel. With the event hosting 50 talks over the course of two days, it is the perfect place to be up-to-date with today’s technologies and research.

The initial talk of the day we attended was based on Bicycle Therapeutics in cancer therapy. Dr Gemma Mudd spoke around highly potent and selective tumour targeting bicyclic peptides as a novel approach Ron cancer therapeutics. She spoke of the identification and optimisation of the high affinity bicycle targeting EphA2, and it took only 40 analogues from the initial compound, BCY6009, to the final compound BCY6099. 

Dr Mudd explained how around 70 conjugate toxins were screened before the optimal one was chosen and bound to the compound. The final compound BT5528 maintained efficacy in CDX models. The research team found a significant regression of the tumour after 21 days, at the dose of 3 milligrams per kilogram per week. This compound is now in preclinical trials.

The talk spoke of novel drug modality and multiple applications of Bicycle molecules. Dr Mudd spoke of the profound efficacy of these compounds, and finished with a question and answer session.

The Drug Target Review team hope to meet more researchers and learn more about the new therapeutics currently in process over the course of the event.