Next-Generation Delivery and Diagnostics Symposium Agenda

**All Information is Subject to Change**

Click Here to View Speaker Bios

Wednesday, September 21

9:15 AM - 9:30 AM (EDT) Welcome & Logistics
11:00 AM - 11:30 AM (EDT) BREAK
11:30 AM - 12:30 PM (EDT) Keynote Speaker
Dr. Giovanni Traverso Assistant Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Assistant Professor of Medicine (part-time), Division of Gastroenterology, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School
12:30 PM - 1:00 PM (EDT) BREAK
1:00 PM - 3:30 PM (EDT) Session 2: Delivery Systems for Diagnostic Use
Academia has recently repurposed a range of established delivery systems (microneedles, liposomes, robotic devices) for diagnostic purposes. Industry is also focusing on diagnostics as they allow for the identification of patients most likely to benefit from treatment and the assessment of treatment response. Indeed, companion diagnostics are key to the success of many new therapies, and increasingly required for FDA approval. In analogy to drug delivery systems, the properties of diagnostic formulations determine their success: the release kinetics of the diagnostic agent, their stability and shelf-life, and manufacturing considerations such as scale-up. The sessions explore the challenging development of diagnostic delivery systems from different angles: the industrial perspective and the perspective of translationally focused academic institutions.
Dr. Simon Matoori Symposia Co-Chair & Moderator Assistant Professor, Université de Montréal
Dr. Rushdy Ahmad Wyss Diagnostics Accelerator, Harvard University
Leo Hofmann TS-01 - An innovative ammonia assay based on transmembrane pH-gradient polymersomes Versantis
Dr. Thierry Bettinger Microbubbles plaform: A modular technology for disruptive approaches in medicine Bracco
Dr. Davide Brambila Naked eye invisible microtattoos for diagnostic and monitoring applications Université de Montréal
Dr. Matthew Burton Disrupting Diagnostics Detact Diagnostics
3:30 PM - 4:00 PM (EDT) Wrap Up and Closing Words

9:15 AM - 9:30 AM (EDT)

Welcome & Logistics

Dr. Simon Matoori

Symposia Co-Chair & Moderator

Assistant Professor, Université de Montréal

Simon

9:30 AM - 11:00 AM (EDT)

Session 1: Robotic Devices for Drug Delivery

Over the last two decades, a variety of robotic delivery systems have been developed. Robots at the nano-, micro-, and macroscale sense the environment and trigger the drug release autonomously. Robotic capsules monitor vital signs, and release a drug when a patient’s status deteriorates. Self-administered robotic infusion systems are simplifying drug administration of biologics, improving compliance and enabling home administration. This session covers robotic delivery systems at different length scales, and the potential and challenges of robotics in drug delivery.

Dr. Beate Bittner

Symposia Co-Chair & Moderator

Product Optimization Franchise Leader, F. Hoffmann - La Roche

Dan Bacher

Digital Health and Drug Delivery In One Capsule

VP Research & Development, Celero Systems Inc.

Eric Schiller

Innovation opportunities for IV infusion at home

Sanofi

Dr. Chris Franzese

Innovation opportunities for IV infusion at home

Matchstick

Dr. Wei Gao

Ingestible microrobots: From test tubes to live animals

Caltech

11:00 AM - 11:30 AM (EDT)

BREAK

11:30 AM - 12:30 PM (EDT)

Keynote Speaker

Dr. Giovanni Traverso

Assistant Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Assistant Professor of Medicine (part-time), Division of Gastroenterology, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School

12:30 PM - 1:00 PM (EDT)

BREAK

1:00 PM - 3:30 PM (EDT)

Session 2: Delivery Systems for Diagnostic Use

Academia has recently repurposed a range of established delivery systems (microneedles, liposomes, robotic devices) for diagnostic purposes. Industry is also focusing on diagnostics as they allow for the identification of patients most likely to benefit from treatment and the assessment of treatment response. Indeed, companion diagnostics are key to the success of many new therapies, and increasingly required for FDA approval. In analogy to drug delivery systems, the properties of diagnostic formulations determine their success: the release kinetics of the diagnostic agent, their stability and shelf-life, and manufacturing considerations such as scale-up. The sessions explore the challenging development of diagnostic delivery systems from different angles: the industrial perspective and the perspective of translationally focused academic institutions.

Dr. Simon Matoori

Symposia Co-Chair & Moderator

Assistant Professor, Université de Montréal

Dr. Rushdy Ahmad

Wyss Diagnostics Accelerator, Harvard University

Leo Hofmann

TS-01 - An innovative ammonia assay based on transmembrane pH-gradient polymersomes

Versantis

Dr. Thierry Bettinger

Microbubbles plaform: A modular technology for disruptive approaches in medicine

Bracco

Dr. Davide Brambila

Naked eye invisible microtattoos for diagnostic and monitoring applications

Université de Montréal

Dr. Matthew Burton

Disrupting Diagnostics

Detact Diagnostics

3:30 PM - 4:00 PM (EDT)

Wrap Up and Closing Words

Thursday - September 22, 2022

9:15 AM - 9:30 AM (EDT) Welcome and Logistics
12:30 PM - 1:00 PM (EDT) BREAK
1:00 PM - 3:30 PM (EDT) Session 4: How Artificial Intelligence is Revolutionizing the Drug Formulation Workflow
Drug formulation science has traditionally relied on iterative optimization of formulations involving laborious in vitro and in vivo studies. Having made breakthrough contributions in medicine and drug discovery, artificial intelligence offers opportunities to reduce experimentation and quality control testing by the use of training sets to predict the properties of new formulations and batches of established formulations. First studies showed how machine learning systems successfully predicted drug release kinetics from polymeric implants and the in vivo biodistribution of nanoparticles. These two sessions will highlight how artificial intelligence is revolutionizing the drug formulation workflow from excipient selection to animal testing.
Dr. Daniel Reker Machine Learning to Discover Functional Excipients and Nanoparticles Assistant Professor, Duke University
Dr. Christine Allen Harnessing Automation and Machine Learning to Accelerate Drug Formulation Development Professor, University of Toronto
Dr. Maksim Khotimchenko A novel AI/ML-driven In silico simulation of the opioid drug transdermal absorption in normal skin and cutaneous lesions Principal DMPK Scientist, VeriSIM Life Inc.
Dr. Natalie Boehnke Nanoparticle delivery through the lens of omics Assistant Professor, University of Minnesota
Dr. Adam Gormley Machine Learning-Guided Robotics for the Data-Driven Design of Nanomaterials Rutgers University
3:30 PM - 4:00 PM (EDT) Wrap Up and Closing Words

9:15 AM - 9:30 AM (EDT)

Welcome and Logistics

Dr. Simon Matoori

Symposia Co-Chair & Moderator

Assistant Professor, Université de Montréal

9:30 AM - 12:30 PM (EDT)

Session 3: How to Define and Nurture Breakthrough Technologies

What makes a technology a breakthrough technology? And how can a technology be improved? In this session, we are aiming to answer these questions with key stakeholders along the drug development path. An editor will talk about how they pick manuscripts and reviewers; a Venture Capital company will elaborate on how they pick startups and provide ecosystems for these startups to grow; a Medical Doctor will talk about a recent advance in treatment; and a life cycle management expert will provide their insights into breakthrough formulations for approved drugs. These experts will define true breakthroughs from bench to bedside.

Dr. Beate Bittner

Symposia Co-Chair & Moderator

Product Optimization Franchise Leader, F. Hoffmann - La Roche

Dr. Christine Horejs

Publishing breakthrough technologies - an editorial perspective

Editor in Chief, Nature Reviews Bioengineering

Dr. Felix Schumacher

Drug delivery to the brain - a landscape

Program Leader Targeted Therapeutics, Roche

Dr. Josh Horvath

Long-Acting Ocular Drug Delivery: the Port Delivery System for Ranibizumab

Senior Director, Genentech

Dr. Dennis Lee

Novel Drug Delivery Solutions for Challenging Product Concepts in Global Health

Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

Dr. Manuel Sanchez-Felix

Patient Focused Breakthrough Drug Delivery Technologies

Novartis

Dr. Athanas Koynov

Merck

12:30 PM - 1:00 PM (EDT)

BREAK

1:00 PM - 3:30 PM (EDT)

Session 4: How Artificial Intelligence is Revolutionizing the Drug Formulation Workflow

Drug formulation science has traditionally relied on iterative optimization of formulations involving laborious in vitro and in vivo studies. Having made breakthrough contributions in medicine and drug discovery, artificial intelligence offers opportunities to reduce experimentation and quality control testing by the use of training sets to predict the properties of new formulations and batches of established formulations. First studies showed how machine learning systems successfully predicted drug release kinetics from polymeric implants and the in vivo biodistribution of nanoparticles. These two sessions will highlight how artificial intelligence is revolutionizing the drug formulation workflow from excipient selection to animal testing.