Theme 1: Advancing Therapeutic Discovery and Development: Mechanistic Considerations for Drug Delivery
One of the many challenges in drug discovery and development is the ability to deliver a therapeutic to its site of action at effective concentrations. Over the past several years, new modalities have been designed to ensure successful cell/tissue drug delivery. These paradigms include, but are not limited to, transporters, nucleic acid delivery vehicles, nanoparticles, antibody-based drug conjugates, and cell-based delivery systems. This theme will provide state-of-the-art information as to how drug delivery should be considered early in the drug development process and stimulate high-level discussion on next-generation drug delivery modalities. Discussion will also focus on biological mechanisms that enable state-of-the-art drug delivery platforms to be deployed for improved treatment of human disease.
Theme 2: Addressing Health Disparities in Basic Science Research
Recent advances in pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics have revealed considerable differences in drug ADME properties, drug response, and toxicokinetics amongst human populations. Such differences can potentially lead to serious issues such as adverse drug events, unexpected drug-drug interactions, and poor treatment effectiveness. This theme will explore strategies for incorporation of genetic differences based on sex, race, and ethnicity into early-stage drug discovery campaigns. Additionally, evaluation of diseases and/or comorbidities in basic science studies will be discussed. The theme’s objective is to use this critical information to provide guidance for academic, industrial, and regulatory scientists in addressing health disparities in their research. This information that will lead to the development of safer and more effective pharmacological treatments for human disease.
Theme 3: State-of-the-Art Tools for Basic Research and Early-Stage Drug Discovery
In conjunction with the rapid pace of early stage discovery science is the advent of new tools for use in basic research projects. These tools have included new imaging modalities for the study of drug disposition; stem cell systems to generate more robust in vitro models; organoid/organ-on-a-chip models that incorporate cell-cell communication to incorporate more complex models into research approaches; and new animal models that better incorporate the complexities of human disease. Additionally, generation of “-omics” data sets have provided considerable information that can guide drug discovery. Of particular importance is understanding how these research tools can be leveraged for more efficient drug discovery and to accelerate investigation of new pathways or molecular targets for therapeutics. This theme will focus on the methodologies themselves and how data derived from these laboratory tools can best be used to facilitate discovery and development of new and improved medicines.