Keynote Sessions

Tuesday, January 19, 2027 | 4:15 - 5:25 pm

4:15 pm
Welcome Remarks
Christina Lingham, Executive Director, Conferences and Fellow, Cambridge Healthtech Institute

4:20 pm
Chairperson's Remarks
Kristine Deibler, PhD, Director, Molecular Artificial Intelligence, Novo Nordisk AS

4:25 pm
Beyond the Funnel: Machine Learning-Powered Lab-in-the-Loop for Drug Discovery
Richard A. Bonneau, PhD, Vice President, Drug Discovery, Prescient Design, a Genentech Co.
We will explore how new generative AI methods are uniquely positioned to accelerate and enhance drug discovery, illustrating our "lab in the loop" process for drug discovery and lead optimization. We will differentiate between design modules, where AI can enhance tools' power and accuracy, and process optimization problems, which involve connecting data and models to experimental design for faster and improved drug discovery. The discussion will cover powerful new design modules and multi-modal foundation models that span multiple drug modalities, with primarily focus on small-molecule and large-molecule drug discovery.

4:55 pm
FIRESIDE CHAT: AI's Real Impact on Biologic Drug Discovery: The Honest Scorecard
AI promises faster discovery, better molecules, and smarter decisions, but how much measurable progress has actually been made? This candid discussion will separate genuine advances from inflated expectations and explore where AI is beginning to transform drug discovery:

The honest scorecard: What has AI and machine learning delivered so far, and where have expectations outpaced results?
From algorithms to assets: How AI is being applied across miniproteins, peptides, complex biologics, conditionally activated therapeutics, TCEs, and other modalities.
The design to reality gap: Where experimental validation, translation, and manufacturability become the true bottlenecks.
Proving the ROI: Which measures genuinely demonstrate impact on speed, quality, cost, and probability of success?
Build, partner, or buy: How companies should assemble the capabilities, technology, and talent needed to compete.
The next frontier: Where foundation models and agentic AI are already changing scientific workflows, and what must change culturally, structurally, and technically to unlock their full potential.

PANEL MODERATOR:
Kristine Deibler, PhD, Director, Molecular Artificial Intelligence, Novo Nordisk AS

PANELISTS:
Richard A. Bonneau, PhD, Vice President, Drug Discovery, Prescient Design, a Genentech Co.
Vanessa Braunstein, Senior Director, TuneLab AI Drug Discovery Platform, Eli Lilly and Company
Gevorg Grigoryan, PhD, Co-Founder & CTO, Generate Biomedicines

Wednesday, January 20, 2027 | 1:15 - 2:15 pm

Peptides at the Inflection Point: From Constrained Scaffolds to AI-Designed Clinical Candidates—Where is Peptide Therapeutics Headed?
Peptide therapeutics are entering a pivotal moment, shifting from a traditionally constrained modality into one of the most dynamic and innovative spaces in drug discovery. Once limited by stability and delivery challenges, peptides are now being reimagined through advances in structural design, novel conjugation strategies, and the integration of AI-driven discovery platforms. As a result, they are increasingly bridging the gap between small molecules and biologics, unlocking new possibilities for targeting previously intractable biology. This panel brings together perspectives from across the ecosystem to explore how these technological and scientific inflections are reshaping the field, where the most meaningful clinical and commercial opportunities are emerging, and how peptides may define the next wave of precision therapeutics.

What are the most exciting scientific and clinical advances shaping peptide therapeutics today?
Where do peptides offer clear advantages over antibodies and small molecules?
What are the key bottlenecks limiting broader development and adoption?
Which emerging modalities show the most promise (e.g., radioligand therapies, peptide–drug conjugates, antibody–peptide hybrids)?
How is AI reshaping peptide discovery and optimization?
What does it take for new entrants to succeed in the peptide therapeutics space?
What are investors prioritizing in this evolving landscape?

PANEL MODERATOR:
Charles Johannes, PhD, Founder & Principal, EPOC Scientific; President & Co-Founder, Peptide Drug Hunting Consortium (PDHC)

PANELISTS:
Simon Bailey, PhD, MBA, COO and President, R&D, Unnatural Products, Inc.
Stephen T. Buckley, PhD, Scientific Vice President, Advanced Drug Delivery, Novo Nordisk A/S
Tomoyuki Igawa, PhD, Vice President & Head, Discovery Research Division, Chugai Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.
Danjuma Quarless, PhD, Senior Director, AI & Biotech Innovation, Lilly Ventures, Eli Lilly & Company
Thomas Von Erlach, PhD, CEO & CSO, Vivtex Corporation

Simon Bailey, PhD, MBA, COO and President, R&D, Unnatural Products, Inc.

Richard A. Bonneau, PhD, Vice President, Drug Discovery, Prescient Design, a Genentech Co.
Richard Bonneau is a computational biologist and data scientist who now leads Computational Drug Discovery in the Computational Sciences division at Genentech. This effort centers on pioneering new methods for combining machine learning and molecular modeling to power drug discovery. His past research spans multiple levels of biological structure and includes: learning biological networks, designing protein, biomimetic chemical biology and exploring social networks. He received his PhD at the University of Washington, Seattle, studying under Dr. David Baker, where he pioneered new methods to predict biomolecular structures. His postdoctoral training was completed at the Institute for Systems Biology, working with Leroy Hood. Dr. Bonneau has been a professor at NYU jointly appointed in the Computer Science and Biology departments. He was a founding member or co-founder of the RosettaCommons, The Center for Data Science at NYU, the Simons Center for Data Analysis (which evolved into the Flatiron institute) and recently co-founded Prescient Design (acquired by Genentech). Dr. Bonneau is excited to be part of Genentech’s effort to revolutionize molecular design and drug discovery with computational advances.

Vanessa Braunstein, Senior Director, TuneLab AI Drug Discovery Platform, Eli Lilly and Company
Vanessa has spent her academic and business career exclusively in life sciences & healthcare. She has worked at large pharma/biotech/tech companies such as Sanofi, Abbott, and NVIDIA and start-ups such as Ingenuity Systems (acquired by Qiagen) and Fabric Genomics (acquired by GeneDx). Vanessa is currently Senior Director at Eli Lilly focused on the Lilly TuneLab AI/ML Platform for accelerating drug discovery. Vanessa began her career in academics and clinical research in molecular and cell biology and public health at UC Berkeley and UCSF and then transitioned to roles building new products, strategic alliances, commercial ecosystem growth in AI and life sciences.

Stephen T. Buckley, PhD, Scientific Vice President, Advanced Drug Delivery, Novo Nordisk A/S
Dr. Stephen T. Buckley drives innovation in drug product design, formulation and drug delivery at Novo Nordisk A/S, with responsibilities spanning global activities across Greater Copenhagen, Denmark, and Boston, USA. His work focuses on enabling patient-centric medicines for peptide, protein and other biologic modalities, including through cross-organizational efforts to identify, evaluate and advance novel drug delivery technologies.

During his time at Novo Nordisk, Stephen has contributed to the development of multiple marketed drug products, including semaglutide, oral semaglutide, faster aspart and insulin icodec. He holds a degree in pharmacy and a Ph.D. in biopharmaceutics and cell physiology from Trinity College Dublin, Ireland, and was a Visiting Fellow at the University of Southern California, USA.

Stephen has received honors and awards from the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists and the Scandinavian and German Physiological Societies. He has co-authored more than 30 peer-reviewed articles, including publications in Nature, Science, Science Translational Medicine and Nature Biotechnology, and is a frequent invited speaker at research institutions, international conferences and scientific workshops.

Kristine Deibler, PhD, Director, Molecular Artificial Intelligence, Novo Nordisk AS
Kris is the Director of Molecular AI in AI and Digital Innovation at Novo Nordisk. She is leading a global area focused on the development and implementation of AI/ML methods for therapeutic design and optimization across modalities. Molecular AI is actively developing Novo Nordisk–tailored foundation models to enhance molecular representation, predict biophysical properties linked to developability and potency, and develop advanced generative AI methods in molecular design and optimization. Before joining Novo Nordisk, Kris trained as an organic chemist and earned her Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from Northwestern University. She pivoted her research focus to computational molecular design during her postdoctoral fellowship with David Baker, where she specialized in designing peptidomimetic GPCR agonists. During this time, she developed innovative computational methods for designing macrocyclic peptides that incorporate non-canonical amino acids. Kris is not only passionate about developing innovative AI methods but is even more driven by the pursuit of discovering impactful therapeutics.

Tomoyuki Igawa, PhD, Vice President & Head, Discovery Research Division, Chugai Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.
Tomoyuki Igawa, Ph.D., graduated and was awarded Ph.D. from the University of Tokyo. Dr. Igawa started his career at Chugai Pharmaceutical, a member of the Roche group, and has led the effort to develop novel antibody engineering technologies, such as bispecific antibody for Hemlibra® (emicizumab), recycling antibody for Enspring® (satralizumab) and crovalimab, half-life extension technology for Mitchga® (nemolizumab), and other various technologies applied to current Chugai/Roche pipeline products. After serving as CEO and Research Head of Chugai Singapore, and Head of Translational Research Division in Chugai Pharmaceutical, Dr. Igawa is currently responsible for drug discovery as a Head of Discovery Research Division. Dr. Igawa has published > 40 peer reviewed papers and is an inventor of > 100 patents in antibody drug discovery.

Charles Johannes, PhD, Founder & Principal, EPOC Scientific; President & Co-Founder, Peptide Drug Hunting Consortium (PDHC)
Charlie Johannes is the Founder, President, and Chief Scientist at EPOC Scientific, CO-founder, VP and board member of the Peptide Drug Hunting Consortium, and former Vice President of Exploratory Chemistry at Fog Pharmaceuticals, where he helped pioneer the development of hyper-stabilized helical peptides (Helicons™). With over 25 years of experience as a drug hunter and platform innovator, Charlie has led efforts in novel modality design, medicinal chemistry, and chemistry-enabled therapeutic platforms across industry and academia.

At EPOC, he advises biotech startups, RLT companies, and venture firms on peptide therapeutics and translational strategy, with clients including Unnatural Products, 48Hour Discovery, Atommap, and others. Previously, he served as Head of Organic Chemistry at ASTAR in Singapore, where he led national peptide drug discovery initiatives, secured over $60 million in funding, and forged a landmark collaboration with Merck. He also held key scientific leadership roles at Forma Therapeutics, Infinity Pharmaceuticals, Eisai, and multiple research institutes under ASTAR.

Charlie earned his Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from Boston College under Prof. Amir Hoveyda, where he developed early applications of Ring Closing Metathesis for macrocycle and natural product synthesis.

Gevorg Grigoryan, PhD, Co-Founder & CTO, Generate Biomedicines
Since co-founding Generate:Biomedicines, Gevorg Grigoryan, PhD, has served as Chief Technology Officer, playing a foundational role in establishing the company’s scientific vision and technological backbone. As an architect of The Generate Platform™, Gevorg has led the integration of machine learning and protein science to enable the on-demand generation of novel therapeutics across a wide range of biologic modalities. Under his scientific leadership, Generate:Biomedicines has advanced a growing pipeline of preclinical programs and clinical assets, all rooted in a generative approach to biology. Prior to founding Generate:Biomedicines, Gevorg was a tenured professor at Dartmouth College, where his interdisciplinary research across computer science, chemistry, biology, and physics contributed major insights into the principles of protein structure and function. His academic work was instrumental in demonstrating the feasibility of generative design and continues to inform the scientific direction of the company. Gevorg has authored more than 50 peer-reviewed publications in top-tier journals including Nature, Science, and PNAS. His research has earned recognition from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, and the American Cancer Society. He holds a PhD from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and dual bachelor’s degrees in Biochemistry and Computer Science. In his role at Generate:Biomedicines, Gevorg remains focused on driving innovation at the intersection of computation and biology and enjoys working with brilliant scientists on some of the toughest challenges in molecular and therapeutic science.

Danjuma Quarless, PhD, Senior Director, AI & Biotech Innovation, Lilly Ventures, Eli Lilly & Company
Danjuma Quarless is Senior Director of AI Innovation at Lilly Ventures, the strategic venture arm of Eli Lilly, where he focuses on early-stage investing at the intersection of AI and drug development. Danjuma’s career spans computational biology, corporate development, and strategic venture investing in biopharma. He began his career as a computational biologist, leading analytics for major population genomics initiatives including the UK Biobank and Genomics Finland. He subsequently moved into therapeutics investing, specializing in early-stage biotech and ecosystem engagement. Danjuma holds a PhD in Biomedical Sciences from UC San Diego and an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

Thomas Von Erlach, PhD, CEO & CSO, Vivtex Corporation
Thomas has been the Chief Executive Officer of Vivtex since 2026. Previously, Thomas served as the Chief Scientific Officer of Vivtex where he has been leading and building the Vivtex Technology from an initial concept to a platform that created clinical stage drug products. Thomas brings over a decade of leadership in the field of oral drug delivery with strong expertise in pharma co-development partnerships. Previously, he led an interdisciplinary team in the Laboratory of Prof. Robert Langer and Prof. Giovanni Traverso at MIT as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow. He obtained a PhD from Imperial College London in Bioengineering and BSc and MSc in Biochemistry and Biotechnology from ETH in Switzerland where we graduated receiving the Willi-Studer award for academic excellence.