Programme Day 1 – 18th October 2023

Time

Transferable skills: Raising awareness of patient needs, clinician expectations

Presenter

9am-10am

TABLE RONDE

Moderators: L. Naessens-Jakovljevic (BAYER) and P. DaoPhan (BAYER)

Participants : A. Folkard (Birdshot Uveitis Society), A. Cardone (Cancer Patients Europe ), D. Launay (ULILLE & Lille University Hospital)

Scientific workshop:Clinical Studies

Presenter

10:30am-12:00pm

V. Sterin (BAYER)

J. Mussot (BAYER)

Programme Day 2 – 19th October 2023

Time

Scientific workshop: Clinical Studies

Presenter

9:30am-12:00pm

Positioning and Target Product Profile

P. Dao Phan (BAYER)

Decentralized Clinical Trials

A. Dekeyser (BAYER)

Data Privacy

Scientific workshop: Experimental HT methodology for screening and ADME

Presenter

2:30pm-4:00pm

Generalities about HTS/HCS

L. Lesire (ULILLE)

Programme Day 3 – 20th October 2023

Time

Scientific workshop: Experimental HT methodology for screening and ADME

Presenter

• The round table panel started with a thought-provoking testimony from Annie Folkard (Birdshot Uveitis Society, UK), who has been diagnosed with a rare autoinflammatory eye disease called birdshot chorioretinopathy (BU) and tried to shed light on the unmet medical need especially from a patient’s perspective. She spoke about the initial lack of research dedicated to this condition, how her quality of life was impacted particularly by the several disruptive side effects of different non-personalized treatments, patients’ registry into the national health system and strained also the importance of improving the lack of knowledge about BU. Antonella Cardone (Cancer Patients Europe, CPE) took the step to raise awareness on CPE’s identity, visions and mission to empower the voices of cancer patients towards policymakers and reduce the disease burden through transparency and equity. This session closed with Pr. David Launay (ULILLE & Lille University Hospital, Lille, FR) highlighting the essential entry of precision medicine in patients’ lives together with early diagnosis, accessibility to available treatments and the need for close collaboration between academic and industrial expertise in order to surpass administrative obstacles around the design and simplification of clinical trials.

• Morning talks ended with BAYER representatives Violette Sterin and Julie Mussot explaining the significance of precision medicine in oncology and the complexity around the various phases of clinical trials with an emphasis on monitoring the long-term effectiveness and safety profile of novel drug approvals by testing new and wider demographs. The example of a clinical candidate against cardiovascular diseases was mentioned in order to indicate the long and strenuous process of drug development.

• Afternoon sessions followed with Pr. Benoit Deprez (ULILLE, U1177, Lille, FR) delivering an overview of personalized medicine and treatments with novel mode-of-action against orphan diseases. Current case studies were presented, including the use of targeted therapeutic products, patient-specific diagnostic tools and biomarkers, knowledge of the individual’s genetic background and the utility of target identification and phenotype screening.

• The day concluded with CAPSTONE coordinator Pr. Rebecca Deprez-Poulain (ULILLE, U1177, Lille, FR) providing a concise summary towards the main principles of ADME/PK studies during the development of pharmacologically active molecules and the efforts involved to optimize the bioavailability of lead compound through modification of different parameters (e.g. solubility, permeability, target engagement, and metabolic instability).

• The beginning of the 2^nd day continued to focus on clinical studies with BAYER representatives Pascal Dao Phan, Eve Lefebvre and Alexanda Dekeyser outlining the techniques used in personal data collection, processing and analysis so as to protect data privacy in R&D and form the legal basis in clinical trials. Moreover, the concept of decentralized clinical trials was communicated in relation to modern technology and how clinical outcomes are affected by the primary positioning and target product profiling of a new treatment.

• The following session was dedicated to an extension of last day’s workshop on the main principles of screening and ADME, this time presented by Dr. Laetitia Lesire (ULILLE, U1177, Lille, FR). The talk highlighted the generalities of high throughput screening and high content screening, the differences between these two analytical techniques, and their importance in the pharmaceutical drug discovery process. A wonderful evening was provided by the organizing committee with a guided tour around the city of Lille, followed by a social dinner event.

• The morning session of the 3^rd day started with a visit to the Pasteur Museum of the Institut Pasteur de Lille. Together with Pr. Rebecca Deprez-Poulain (ULILLE, U1177, Lille, FR), ESRs followed a journey through time, learning about the scientific career of Louis Pasteur, the research of Albert Calmette and Camille Guerin, their contribution to the development of tuberculosis vaccine, until reaching today’s achievements of Institut Pasteur de Lille.

• The rest of the day was devoted to the scientific workshop on screening methodology and ADME. Dr. Laetitia Lesire (ULILLE, U1177, Lille, FR) concluded the previous day’s presentation with high throughput and high content screening in practice, where ESRs learned about ARIADNE screening platform, a high throughput equipment located in the Institut Pasteur de Lille, which can be used for the automated testing of large number of compounds at high speed. Lastly, a hands-on workshop was conducted, with Dr. Laetitia Lesire (ULILLE, U1177, Lille, FR) presenting the Columbus^TM software, and its use for image analysis of high content screening.