Day One

• Comparison of different humanisation methods for T cell engager assessment
• Best practices to tackle welfare issues and donor-to-donor variability
• Strategies to improve consistency in immune cell engraftment

• Development of predictive preclinical resistance models
• Mechanistic insights into intrinsic and acquired resistance pathways
• Biomarker-driven strategies for patient selection to improve the clinical translatability of ADC therapies

As the tumour modelling community is reunited, this valuable session will ensure you get the chance to reconnect with peers and make brand new connections! This structured networking opportunity will pair you with fellow attendees for several 3-minute introductions, ensuring you have the opportunity to meet and network with your industry colleagues.

• Spotlighting techniques to add controlled mutations to replicate the sporadic and progressive nature of B-cell lymphomas, from early transformation to full-blown malignancy
• Utilising complex GEMMs to investigate mechanisms of treatment failure and resistance, enabling deeper insights into therapeutic vulnerabilities and relapse dynamics
• Developing models that capture pre-malignant and early malignant states to study immune cell development, tumour initiation, and the potential for early intervention strategies

• Presentation details to be announced

• Discussing the challenges in evaluating CAR-T cell therapies preclinically and the rationale to select relevant preclinical models
• Presenting lessons learned to tackle antigen expression and ensure the representation of the patient tumour microenvironment
• Leveraging model data to predict efficacy and safety of CAR-T therapies to ensure translation to the clinic

• Presentation details to be announced

Invite only networking lunch with experts from HUB Organoids.

• Applying patient-derived tumour spheroids to model the tumour immune microenvironment including T cell infiltration and function, tumour fibrosis, CAF and endothelial cell biology
• Modelling the specific treatment response of compounds on the patient tumour immune environment and cancer epithelial cells using single cell RNASeq and proteomics
• Understanding how patient-derived tumour spheroids accelerate drug development using liver and pancreatic cancer as examples

• Presentation details to be announced

• Discussing the use of organ-on-a-chip models to better mimic the tumour microenvironment and cellular interactions
• Exploring the integration of multiple cell types, including immune cells and stromal cells, to create more physiologically relevant models that are reproducible and capture patient heterogeneity
• Validating a mouse breast cancer organ-on-a-chip model with mouse models to uncover their translational relevance and sharing considerations in drug development

• Presentation details to be announced

Take this opportunity to connect with peers working on similar tumour model modalities or explore cross-disciplinary insights with those from different specialisms. These informal breakout sessions are designed to help you soundboard challenges, share learnings, and build meaningful connections. It’s also a great moment to reflect on the day’s discussions and strategise your next steps.

• Hybrid submissions – will they become the new standard or the new normal?
• Balancing in vivo versus in vitro and 3D in model selection
• Debunking the role of in vivo models and non-animal tests to inform future clinical trial design

• Presentation details to be announced

• Reiterating the 3Rs and the type of new approach methods to empower drug development and reduce attrition to the clinic using more human-relevant models
• Sharing Merck KGaA’s three basket approach embodying the 3Rs and applications across drug development
• Highlighting the need for regulatory clarity, international harmonisation, and investment in safe harbour frameworks to de-risk innovation and accelerate the adoption of non-animal methods across the drug development pipeline