Scientific Program Day Two | Thursday, November 20

8:00 am Morning Coffee & Check-In

8:55 am Chair’s Opening Remarks

9:00 am Re-thinking Maximum Tolerated Dose (MTD) Using MIDD to Get the Dose Right First Time & Save Critical Development Time

  • Prathap Nagaraja Shastri Scientific Director & Group Leader, Clinical Pharmacology & Pharmacometrics, Johnson and Johnson

Synopsis

  • Learning how oncology modeling is evolving to prioritize optimal over maximum dosing
  • Learn when is best to initiate dose optimization efforts
  • Understand why MTD is being reconsidered

9:30 am Case Study: Dose Optimization for Bi-Specifics & Tri-Specifics

Synopsis

  • How MIDD helps define rational starting doses for complex biologics
  • Compare strategies for dose selection in multi-target modalities
  • How modeling is supporting faster and safer advancement of novel immunotherapies

10:00 am Morning Break

Speeding Up Development Timelines by Leveraging MIDD Across the Pipeline to Accelerate Decisions

11:00 am Assessing How MIDD Can Support Early Clinical Decision Making & Accelerated Approval for Novel Modalities

Synopsis

  • Learn how MIDD supported early clinical decision-making and accelerated development timelines for different modalities`
  • Understand modeling strategies that helped define safe, effective doses earlier in the process
  • How this ultimately combined with regulatory engagement and enabled faster progression to approval 

11:30 am Mechanistic IS/ID Modeling to Enable Pediatric Vaccine Dose Selection: A Case Study in Predictive Immunogenicity Accelerating Innovation to Optimize Dosing & Speed Up Time-to-Market

  • Husain Attarwala Vice President, Bioanalytics, DMPK, Clinical Pharmacology & Pharmacometrics, Aera Therapeutics

Synopsis

  • Learn how mechanistic IS/ID modeling can be applied to inform pediatric vaccine dose selection with predictive confidence
  • Understand how model-informed development streamlines clinical trial design and supports regulatory interactions
  • Gain actionable insights into implementing scalable modeling strategies to accelerate vaccine development across age groups

12:00 pm Lunch Break

1:00 pm Panel Discussion: Reflections From Drug Developers: What Worked When Applying MIDD, What Didn’t & Why?

  • Mike Liao Vice President, Clinical Pharmacology, Third Arc Bio

Synopsis

  • Hear firsthand experiences on how MIDD strategies have successfully expedited clinical and regulatory milestones
  • Explore common challenges and resistance factors that limited MIDD adoption, with advice on overcoming these obstacles
  • Analyze retrospective case studies to identify best practices and lessons learned from embedding MIDD more effectively across development teams

Enhancing MIDD Impact: Communicating Model Confidence, Navigating Uncertainty & Aligning Cross-Functional Teams

2:00 pm Overcoming Data Gaps in Early Discovery & Repurposing to Unlock Faster, Smarter Development Decisions

Synopsis

  • Discuss why early-stage and repurposing projects often suffer from data sparsity and how this hinders MIDD decision making
  • Explore strategies to navigate sparse or fragmented data environments
  • Learn how organizations are overcoming data gaps to unlock earlier insights, reduce false starts and increase success rate of repurposing efforts

2:30 pm Turning Missing Data Into Actionable Insights: Practical Strategies to Strengthen MIDD Assumptions

Synopsis

  • Discover proven methods to manage incomplete or inconsistent datasets while maintaining scientific rigor and model credibility
  • Learn how to leverage literature, sensitivity analyses to validate modeling assumptions
  • Understand how to transparently communicate assumptions and uncertainties to stakeholders, ensuring informed decision-making despite possible data gaps

3:00 pm Improving Communication Between Modelers & Clinical Teams – Reducing the Language Barrier & Building MIDD Capability In-House to Accelerate Development Timelines

  • Jeff Kearns Director, Translational Modeling & Simulation, Novartis

Synopsis

  • Lessons from ~7 years of building one of the largest translational modeling teams in the industry with an emphasis on an MID3-first strategy
  • Cleverness and Curiosity: the innate characteristics that underpin how we identify, recruit, and train modelers from varied backgrounds
  • The mechanics of coaching a high performing modeling team, at scale: building skillsets, collaboration, and model-informed impact

3:30 pm Chair’s Closing Remarks

3:45 pm End of Scientific Program Day Two