Koch Institute Symposium 2025

Event poster with an illustration large yellow antibody, surrounded by multicolor organic shapes that evoke cells and antibodies

The 23rd Annual Koch Institute Symposium on Antibody Drug Conjugates: Targeted Cancer Therapies at the Intersection of Chemistry, Biology, and Engineering will take place on Friday, June 27, 2025. Kicking off with 2022 Nobel Prize winner Carolyn Bertozzi, our speaker lineup features an array of industry and academic leaders who will discuss current advancements and challenges in deploying antibody drug conjugates (ADCs) as anti-cancer agents. We cordially invite scientists, oncologists, and any other member of the biomedical community to join us in a day of engaging talks, stimulating conversations with colleagues, and of course camaraderie in our collective fight against cancer. 

Agenda

9:00 a.m. - 9:10 a.m. Opening remarks

Matthew Vander Heiden 
Director, MIT Koch Institute 


9:10 a.m. – 10:00 a.m. Keynote 

Introduction: Jessica Stark, MIT Koch Institute 

Carolyn Bertozzi 
Stanford University 
Topic: Antibody drug conjugate biological chemistry  


10:00 a.m. – 12:00 pmSession One  

Peter Senter
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center
Antibody Drug Conjugates for Cancer Therapy: From Early Stage Research to Clinically Approved Drugs

Gerold Meinhardt
Daiichi Sankyo
Trastuzumab Deruxtecan: The Redefinition of HER2-targeted Therapy

Alison Betts
Takeda Pharmaceuticals
More than the sum of their parts: Integrating data and knowledge of ADCs in a Quantitative Systems Pharmacology platform model to predict efficacy and toxicity 

Timothy Lowinger
Mersana Therapeutics
Development of a STING-agonist ADC Platform: A Targeted Approach to Immunostimulation


12:00 p.m. – 1:30 p.m.Lunch Break


1:30 p.m. – 2:30 p.m.Session Two: Short Presentations

Laurie Boyer
MIT Koch Institute
Traffic control: High resolution mapping of ADCs within the lysosomal compartment

Dane Wittrup
MIT Koch Institute
Topic: Noncovalent capture antibody drug conjugates  

Jeremiah Johnson
MIT Koch Institute
The ABCs of Antibody-Bottlebrush Conjugates 

Daša Lipovšek
Aktis Oncology
Miniproteins for targeted radiotherapy 


2:30 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.Session Three  

Greg Thurber
University of Michigan
Designing ADCs for Efficient Tumor Tissue Penetration and Clinical Efficacy 

Puja Sapra
AstraZeneca
Topic: Antibody drug conjugate payloads and linker chemistry  

Michael Seganish
Merck
Navigating Undesired Payload Release

Thank you to our sponsors!

 

Platinum

Astellas Pharma Inc.

 

 

MilliporeSigma

 

Silver

Pfizer
CanCollaborate
Qiagen
Window Therapeutics

 

Bronze

Morrison Foerster
Novartis