Conference Day 1
Wednesday October 11, 2023

8:00 am
Registration Opens & Morning Welcome Coffee

8:50 am Chair’s Opening Remarks

Exploring the Latest Clinical Data & How to Design Better Clinical Trials

9:00 am mRNA Cancer Vaccine Update from Moderna

Synopsis

  • Updates on the investigational personalized mRNA Cancer Vaccine
  • Utilizing mRNA technology to bring truly individualized cancer treatments to patients

9:30 am Discussing the Latest Clinical Data for mRNA Cancer Vaccines to Help Advance Your mRNA Candidate

  • Lelia Delamarre Director, Cancer Immunology Research & Distinguished Scientist, Genentech

Synopsis

  • What is the latest clinical data on the advancement in mRNA cancer vaccines?
  • How to move your mRNA cancer vaccine into commercialization
  • What are the possible breakthroughs or innovations we may see in the next year for mRNA cancer vaccines?

10:00 am Use of ctDNA analysis to complement objective responses detected in patients with advanced HCC treated with GT-EPICâ„¢ based personalized cancer vaccines

  • Jian Yan Vice President - Research and Discovery, Personalis

Synopsis

  • Highlighting clinical response data from GNOS-PV02 Phase 1b/2a clinical trial in 2L advanced HCC
  • Use of NeXT Personal® platform (Personalis, Inc.) to longitudinally monitor molecular residual disease (MRD)
  • In a retrospective analysis of patient samples, ultrasensitive tumor informed ctDNA panel identified molecular responses in patients ahead of detection of partial responses (PR) and complete responses (CR) by radiological imaging (RECIST 1.1)

10:30 am
Morning Break & Networking

Synopsis

This session is your opportunity to get face-to-face time with many of the brightest minds working in the mRNA cancer vaccine field, and to establish meaningful business relationships

11:30 am Roundtable Discussion: Reviewing the Next Generation of RNA Technologies as an Alternative Candidate for Use in Cancer Vaccines

Synopsis

  • Revealing how sa-RNA is capable of inducing a strong immune response in the body allowing it to be an ideal candidate for use in cancer vaccines
  • Showing how circular-RNA has been found to be more stable and resistant to degradation than other forms of RNA
  • Investigating how si-RNA is capable of silencing specific genes that are involved in cancer growth and metastasis which can help to slow or even stop the growth of cancer cells

12:30 pm
Lunch & Networking

Examining Recent Advances in Immune Biomarker Assessment & mRNA Stability in Cancer Vaccines for Quality Assurance & Improved Efficacy

1:30 pm Assessing Immune Biomarkers in Tumor Microenvironments to Provide Predictive Responses

Synopsis

  • Understanding the potential of these biomarkers by observing their behavior in the context of vaccine checkpoints and combinations to identify which biomarkers are most closely associated with positive outcomes
  • Considering the characteristics of the tumor to understand what certain cancer subtypes may be more amenable to vaccine therapy than others
  • Exploring the factors that influence these biomarkers and the immune response they elicit, to develop more effective vaccines

2:00 pm Novel, Synthetic DNA Templates Enable Expedited Turnaround Times for mRNA Cancer Vaccines

  • Amy Walker Vice President and Director - Discovery Research and Business Development, 4basebio

Synopsis

  • mRNA production is limited by availability of high-quality, GMP-grade DNA. Synthetic DNA produced enzymatically can address the drawbacks associated with plasmid derived DNA templates.
  • The use of synthetic DNA templates can greatly reduce the needle-to-needle time in oncology vaccine applications.
  • opDNA is a synthetic DNA template with a 3’ open end, which can feed directly into IVT processes without the need for linearisation.
  • opDNA is devoid of a bacterial backbone and can be designed with long continuous poly-(A) tails encoded within the sequence. opDNA achieves significantly higher mRNA yields, comparable proinflammatory cytokine/chemokine responses, and equivalent gene expression as compared to plasmid derived templates.

2:15 pm
Afternoon Break & Poster Session

Synopsis

By joining our dedicated session, you will have the opportunity to engage in meaningful discussions with your peers about ongoing work in the field of mRNA cancer vaccines. As the discovery and development of these therapies continue to advance, it is essential to collaborate and share knowledge to streamline the approval process. Share your latest findings and gain insight into the cutting-edge work of your peers. The goal of this session is to foster a sense of community and promote collaboration within the field.

3:15 pm Roundtable Discussion: Investigating the Essential Features of Clinical Trials to Streamline mRNA Cancer Vaccines Through the Clinic & Into the Patient

Synopsis

  • Considering the selection of appropriate patient populations for the clinical trial who will have a high likelihood of benefiting from the vaccine, while also ensuring that the patient population is diverse enough to accurately represent the general population
  • Determining the appropriate dosage and schedule for administering the vaccine, as well as defining the primary and secondary endpoints for the trial
  • Monitoring potential adverse effects and ensuring that the vaccine is able to elicit a robust immune response against the targeted cancer cells

4:15 pm Development of an HPV 16 mRNA Based Therapeutic Vaccine Overcoming High Grade HPV Infections

  • Kun Zhou Investigator, GeneLeap BioTechnology

Synopsis

  • Preclinical data indicating efficacy of the vaccine in inducing immune response and reducing tumor growth
  • Future directions and potential applications for mRNA-based therapeutic vaccines in HPV treatment and beyond

4:45 pm TAC-001 as a Promising Combination Partner for Cancer Vaccines

Synopsis

  • Introduction to Tallac’s platform of immune-targeted TLR9 agonist antibody conjugates
  • Introduction to TAC-001, a B-cell targeted TLR9 agonist antibody conjugate that triggers innate and adaptive anti-cancer immunity
  • Preclinical rationale for combining TAC-001 with cancer vaccines

5:15 pm End of Conference Day One