To celebrate the 5th year of

World ADC San Diego

Interviews From… Interview with…

A PhD student in Pharmaceutical Sciences from Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center.

Sharad Sharma

Celebrating it’s 5th birthday, this

year’s World ADC San Diego was an extra special occasion. Such a milestone seemed the perfect time to reflect on what’s happened in the last 5 years and what the future of World ADC holds. As part of a series of interviews to mark the event we took some time with a full spectrum of attendees – from those that have attended all 5 years, to up and coming KOLs and World ADC newbies.

Kicking off the series is an interview

with Sharad Sharma, a

PhD student in Pharmaceutical Sciences from Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center. Attending World ADC for the first time, he shares his experience with us…

Why you were first interested in coming to World ADC San Diego?

What were you hoping to achieve?

I hoped to take a lot away from the meeting, but I suppose I particularly wanted to learn about new targets, homogeneous and site specific antibody drug conjugation technologies, novel cytotoxic payloads and ways to improve the pharmacokinetic stability of ADCs

Simply put, I wanted to learn about the latest developments in the field of antibody drug conjugates and the World ADC meeting provides the best platform for the presentation and sharing of novel discoveries and ideas in the field of ADC development.

How did you feel before the conference started?

I felt really excited, I was looking forward to hearing about the current status of ADC development process directly from the pioneers in the field. I was also very excited about meeting some of the leaders of this field and to know how the idea of ADC development actually translates into the final drug products that are currently improving the lives of many cancer patients.

Who you were hoping to meet?

I have always been highly impressed with Dr. Jagath Junutula for his contribution to the development of homogenous ADCs by thiomab technology and getting a chance to meet him in person was very exciting for me. Beyond that, I was just hoping to meet as many people as possible. I want to build a future career for myself in the ADC field, so being surrounded by 600 ADC developers was a great way to make connections and learn the tools I need to progress.

What with over 75 talks on the agenda, across 3 streams, it was quite difficult to narrow down a “can’t miss” list. I was a bit disappointed to have to miss a number of excellent talks because they were running parallel to others that I wanted to attend.

I specifically attended the sessions from discovery and development streams. I was curious to know about the novel site specific and homogeneous conjugation technologies. I was excited to hear about the highly potent cytotoxic payloads such as tubulysin and its analogs, amanitin, attenuated cytokines, duocarmycins, Auristatin T and PBDs.

Which presentations were on your “can’t miss” list?

Some stand-out talks included Dr. Jon Terrett, CytomX Therapeutics on Probody drug conjugate technology offering safer ADCs with better therapeutic index. I was impressed by the presentation given by Dr. David Miao, Sorrento Therapeutics about the development of multifunctional ADCs using K-lock and C-lock technology. Dr. Timothy Lowinger, Mersana Therapeutics gave a very insightful talk about Fleximer based next generation ADCs for low expressing targets. Finally, I was excited to learn about the GlycoConnect and Hydraspace technology for next generation ADC development at Synaffix. But those are just a handful of a number of really high quality talks that I went to.

Yes, I joined in the Speed Networking - it was extremely helpful in meeting some of the excellent scientists who are actively working for the improvement of ADC technology. Personally, it helped me a lot as I got a chance to meet outstanding researchers in the field and to learn from them. I also made some good friends during the poster/drinks reception and I was highly impressed by their views and opinions about the ADC based therapeutics.

Did you get involved in the other activities available at the meeting, beyond the presentations?

Why are you excited (hopefully) about working in the ADC field after the meeting?

I have been excited about ADCs since the time I started my PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center. I believe ADCs are the best translated science in the field of drug delivery which amalgamates immunology, biochemistry, and cytotoxic drug pharmacology. As mentioned by the chairman of the conference, Dr. David Meininger, Executive Director, Merck, the full potential of ADCs can be harnessed only by using the combination therapy. Based on the fact that 30 ADCs are currently in different phases of clinical trials, I believe ADCs will be the new face of cancer therapy. That is something to be excited about.

By listening to all the talks and visiting the posters I learnt such a lot. The ADC development process has significantly advanced in recent years but to achieve the maximum therapeutic benefit, choice of the right target for particular cancer types is very important. Thus, there is a need to find such molecular targets for effective ADC development.

Also, as addressed by Dr. Sandhya Girish, Genentech, finding the right dose and regimen of ADCs for actual clinical benefit is still a major challenge because of the narrow therapeutic window.

What are the key takeaways you took from the conference?

There is a need for development of models for the detailed pharmacokinetic study of ADCs. Lessons learnt from the successful development of Kadcyla and Adcetris can help to improve the next generation of ADCs. The key to the success is collaboration and exchange of ideas and I think World ADC provides a great platform for that.

Whatever your current experience or number of years working in the ADC field, World ADC can offer

you the platform to progress.

We’ve got a number of exciting things to look forward to in 2015:

Other platforms… Consider one of our 1 day training sessions – Visit www.worldadc-training.com Request an invite to the World ADC Masterminds – Email adc@hansonwade.com Or, join us online each month for our World ADC Webinars – Visit www.worladc-webinars.com

Attend our next conference: World ADC Frankfurt – 23-25 February 2015. Visit www.worldadc-europe.com