Wednesday, February 19, 2025

7:30 am Registration & Light Breakfast

8:20 am Chair’s Opening Remarks

  • Peter Krein Senior Vice President, Precision Medicine, Boundless Bio

Transforming Molecular Insights into Actionable Tools to Enable Real Time Monitoring of Patients & Drive Precision Oncology

8:30 am Harnessing Molecular Insights to Develop Clinically Actionable Tools for Transforming Patient Care

Synopsis

  • How ctDNA and MRD are being applied in real-world clinical settings to guide personalized treatment decisions
  • Evaluating the translation of molecular data into actionable tools that can streamline diagnosis, treatment, and monitoring
  • How can we integrate molecular insights into routine clinical workflows to improve patient outcomes?

9:00 am Session Reserved for Foundation Medicine

9:30 am Integrating Liquid Biopsies into Clinical Workflows to Enhance Decision Making in Clinical Trials

  • John Baden Executive Director, Head of Solid Tumour Oncology Diagnostics, Bristol Myers Squibb

Synopsis

  • Leveraging ctDNA to provide continuous insights into micro-tumor environments
  • Accurately validating the clinical utility of liquid biopsy tests to improve decision making
  • Enhancing drug-development pipelines with real-time patient monitoring for improved patient treatment and personalized therapy adjustments

10:00 am Session Reserved for Guardant Health

10:30 am Morning Break & Speed Networking

Synopsis

As the Clinical Biomarkers and Liquid Biopsy community unite once more, this valuable session will ensure that you can connect with your peers in the room to make new and lasting connections. All attendees will have the opportunity to meet and network with their industry peers.

Defining Robust Clinical Endpoints with MRD to Enhance Long-Term Survival Prediction & Optimize Patient Outcomes

11:30 am Pioneering Liquid Biopsies with MRD in Oncology for Accelerated Approval in Multiple Myeloma

  • Qian Shi Professor of Biostatistics and Oncology, Mayo Clinic

Synopsis

  • Understanding the significance of MRD as a key treatment response indicator in multiple myeloma
  • Demonstrating the evidence of MRD negativity predicting long-term survival
  • Pioneering novel approvals for MRD as clinical endpoints

12:00 pm Session Reserved for Caris Life Sciences

12:30 pm DEI Panel: Forging Pathways to Equitable Precision Medicine by Ensuring Universal Access to Liquid Biopsies & MRD Detection

  • Anthoula Lazaris Scientific Director, RI-MUHC Liver Disease Biobank
  • Gregory J Opiteck Head, Precision & Translational Medicine, Affini-T Therapeutics
  • Qian Shi Professor of Biostatistics and Oncology, Mayo Clinic
  • Robert Feeney Director Account Solutions, Personalized & Precision Medicine, Novartis
  • Rajiv Raja Executive Director, GlaxoSmithKline

Synopsis

  • Discussing how liquid biopsies can reduce disparities in early cancer detection and monitoring, improving outcomes for underserved and underrepresented communities globally
  • Evaluating how current strategies are working to ensure equal access to liquid biopsies and MRD detection, regardless of socioeconomic status
  • Analysing the impact of MRD as an objective measure, irrespective of gender or ethnicity, to affordably diagnose patients

1:30 pm Networking Lunch

Track A: Discovery & Technology Innovation

Enhancing Predictive Biomarkers through Multi-Omics & Advanced MRD Detection for Refined Patient Selection Strategies

2:30 pm Building Robust Bioinformatics Pipelines for Liquid Biopsy Data to Enhance Precision Outcomes

Synopsis

  • Demonstrating methods to normalize heterogeneous liquid biopsy data from various providers to achieve consistent analysis
  • Leveraging machine learning to enhance liquid biopsy data accuracy, aligning closer to tissue biopsy standards

3:00 pm ESR1 & Beyond: Leveraging Exosomes for Highly Sensitive LBx Solutions

  • Brian Haynes Chief Scientific Officer & Head of Bioinformatics, Molecular & Diagnostics Division, Bio-Techne Corporation

Synopsis

  • Exosomes enable more complete and sensitive disease detection than cfDNA alone with unparalleled sensitivity (<0.1%VAF) to detect ESR1 mutations on widely available instruments.
  • The QuantideX® qPCR ESR1 exoMutation Kit (RUO) combines co-enrichment of ctDNA and exosomal RNA, qPCR reagents, and automated push-button software for a complete LBx solution for clinical research laboratories everywhere.

3:30 pm Panel Discussion: Improving MRD Detection & Leveraging Multi-omics to Refine Predictive Biomarkers for Augmented Treatment Strategies

  • Jean-Francois Martini Executive Director, Biomarker Clinical Assay and Technology Group head, Pfizer
  • Peter Krein Senior Vice President, Precision Medicine, Boundless Bio
  • Hugh Wang Director, Bioinformatics, Summit Therapeutics

Synopsis

  • Investigating how advanced MRD detection methods are being used to refine the identification of biomarkers of treatment response
  • Exploring the impact of multi-omics on biomarker detection
  • What sensitivity is sufficient to reliably identify predictive biomarkers?
  • How to ensure regulatory guidelines are adhered to whilst leveraging novel technology

4:00 pm Session Reserved for Biofidelity

Track B: Clinical Development & Commercialization

Leveraging Liquid Biopsies to Optimize Clinical Trial Design for Better Dosage Regimes & Enhanced Patient Selection

2:30 pm Redefining Patient Selection Strategies with Liquid Biopsies to Revolutionize Patient Safety in Clinical Trials

Synopsis

  • Harnessing ctDNA to provide novel biomarker insights for improved patient selection
  • Integrating molecular insights into patient selection strategies
  • Understanding the commercial advantages of improved patient selection

3:00 pm Session Reserved for Personalis

3:30 pm Panel Discussion: Harnessing MRD to Inform Clinical Trial Decision Making & Improve Dosage Regimes

  • Chris Conn Director, Clinical Biomarkers & Diagnostics, Global Diagnostics Strategy Lead, Amgen
  • Hua Gong Senior Vice President & Global Head, Translational Medicine & Clinical Biomarker, Zai Lab
  • Marielena Mata Sr. Director, Clinical Biomarkers, Vividion Therapeutics
  • Stephen Huang Executive Director, Clinical Biomarkers & Companion Diagnostics, Avenzo Therapeutics

Synopsis

  • How to integrate MRD into clinical trial designs to tailor dosage regimes more precisely
  • Leveraging MRD insights to refine dosage escalation and de-escalation protocols for optimal efficacy and safety
  • How to use MRD data to adjust treatment strategies and inform Standard of Care protocols

4:00 pm Evaluation of Liquid Biopsy NGS Assay Kits to Improve Access to Rapid, Decentralized Biomarker Testing for NSCLC in Daily Practice

Synopsis

  • Access to cost effective, easy to use, distributed NGS kits for liquid biopsy testing (LBx) are critical to helping support more rapid treatment decision making for cancer patients. These kit-based methods allow a broad range of laboratories to perform high-quality NGS testing, which improves patient access to targeted therapies in a short turnaround time
  • Kitted LBx assays can typically be categorized into either amplicon-based targeted panels or hybrid capture based CGP assays, with varying costs, NGS workflows, including automation of different steps and resulting genomic content
  • A summary of our evaluation on site of multiple NGS-based LBx products, review their features and benefits and discuss how they might be used clinically to help more effectively and rapidly genomically profile patients for a better care in advanced NSCLC

4:30 pm Afternoon Networking Break

Innovating Liquid Biopsy Strategies to Decode Tumor Complexity & Enhance Oncology Insights for Better Cancer Treatments

5:00 pm Uncovering the Role of Circulating Cancer Cell Clusters in Metastasis & Therapeutic Targeting: A Novel Approach in Liquid Biopsy

Synopsis

  • Circulating metastatic cancer cell clusters (MCCs) provide one of the worst prognoses for cancer patients
  • Routine and efficient capture of MCCs is essential for diagnostic, prognostic, and therapeutic approaches
  • Anti-metastatic drugs targeting MCCs independent of treatment against primary tumours are going to bring significant benefit to survival and quality of life to nearly all cancer patients

5:30 pm Panel Discussion: Pre-Analytical Insights to Enhance Liquid Biopsy Development Success

Synopsis

  • Ensure compliance with evolving global standards to future-proof your studies
  • Optimize pre-analytical protocols to generate consistent, high-quality results that drive impactful discoveries
  • Ensure your assays capture the right analytes with precision, leading to better clinical outcomes

6:00 pm Multi-Analytes Analysis in Prostate Cancer: Overcoming Tumor Heterogeneity Challenges with Liquid Biopsy

  • Anneleen Daemen Executive Director, Translational Medicine & Head of Bioinformatics, ORIC Pharmaceuticals

Synopsis

  • Impact of tumor heterogeneity on drug development and patient selection
  • Advantages of a multi-analyte biomarker approach in a phase 1 trial
  • Opportunity, and challenges, of precision medicine for prostate cancer

6:30 pm Chair’s Closing Remarks

Streamlining Liquid Biopsy Operations & Advancing Biomarker Analysis to Promote Routine Use of Liquid Biopsies in Clinical Settings

5:00 pm Optimizing Clinical Biomarker Operations in Liquid Biopsy Trials: Streamlining Sample Collection to Analysis

Synopsis

  • Ensuring sample integrity from collection to analysis to power reliable biomarker data
  • Navigating patient timing, shipments, and lab workflows for streamlined trial operations
  • Uncovering ctDNA profile shifts across dosing to drive impactful clinical outcomes

5:30 pm Roundtable Discussion: Integrating Liquid Biopsies into Clinical Guidelines to Enhance Routine Testing & Accelerate the Commercialization of Innovative Drug- Diagnostic Solutions

Synopsis

  • Supporting the inclusion of Minimal Residual Disease (MRD) testing in clinical guidelines, ensuring widespread adoption and utilization in oncology practice
  • Examining the types of evidence and research necessary to support the incorporation of liquid biopsies into established clinical guidelines
  • Evaluating the implications of liquid biopsy inclusion in guidelines for pharmaceutical companies, diagnostic providers, and oncologists

6:00 pm Leveraging Liquid Biopsy as an Early Biomarker for Response & Dose Optimization in Early-Phase Oncology Trials

  • Mini Manchanda Director, Clinical Biomarkers & Companion Diagnostics, Kura Oncology

Synopsis

  • Exploring the use of liquid biopsy as an early biomarker to guide dose optimization
  • Providing insights into the application of liquid biopsy for realtime biomarker assessment, and predicting early response

6:30 pm Chair’s Closing Remarks

6:30 pm End of Conference Day One