Chemical Proximity as the Next Frontier in Drug Discovery
AGENDA OVERVIEW
3.00pm Thought Leader Interview with Zoran Rankovic
3.30pm Thought Leader Interview with Rick Ewing
2.00pm Panel Discussion: Chemical-Induced Proximity, Degraders and Beyond in Drug Discovery
- Matching therapeutic modalities to specific disease targets
- How to choose the optimal modality–target pairing
- Chemical inducers of proximity: identifying the most suitable modality
- Protein degraders: determining the right modality and use case
- E3 ligase strategies: major challenges, including safety and tolerability
- Current best practices for discovering novel chemical inducers of proximity
- Beyond degradation: emerging proximity-based mechanisms and next-generation inducers
Panellists
Danette Daniels, Vice President of the Protein Degrader Platform at Foghorn Therapeutics
Biography:
Zoran Rankovic is Professor of Chemical Biology and Director of the Centre for Protein Degradation at the Institute of Cancer Research (ICR), London. His work focuses on advancing targeted protein degradation and translational chemical biology. Prior to ICR, he held senior leadership roles at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Eli Lilly, Merck, Schering-Plough, and Organon, contributing extensively to drug discovery and development.
Rick Ewing is Vice President and Head of Chemistry at Rapafusyn, leading discovery efforts in non-degrading molecular glues. He previously served as VP, Head of Drug Discovery at the Barer Institute and Senior Director at Bristol Myers Squibb, where he helped deliver 15 development candidates including Milvexian. Rick is an ACS Fellow, co-inventor on 79 patents, and co-author of 77 publications.
