On May 28, 2020, 300 investors, venture firms, pharma and biotech industry members and researchers, from across the US, Canada, China, UK and beyond tuned into the second annual Biotech by the Lake Investor Summit hosted by the Chemistry of Life Processes Institute (CLP) at Northwestern University, in partnership with Oppenheimer & Co. and BioCentury, Inc. The virtual conference, held the day before the American Society of Clinical Oncologists’ Annual Meeting, highlighted the latest cancer therapies and technologies pioneered by Northwestern investigators, as well as leading biotech companies, and panel discussions lead by industry insiders about the hottest trends and investment strategies for oncology biotech.

Thomas O’Halloran, PhD, the Founding Director of CLP, opened the program with a welcome and brief history of the Institute which celebrated its 10th anniversary in Silverman Hall this year.

A Launchpad for Drug Development

“The Institute was initiated as my colleagues and I began to realize that some of the most important applications in chemistry need to have a very deep partnership with biology, medicine and engineering,” said O’Halloran, the Charles E. and Emma H. Morrison Professor of Chemistry and Professor of Molecular Biosciences, Weinberg College of Arts & Sciences; Professor of Medicine, Feinberg School of Medicine.

O’Halloran described CLP as an interdisciplinary network of 66 institute investigators across 20 departments that have contributed to the launch of commercially successful drugs in many disease areas. He noted that, since its founding, the Institute has incubated 27 new companies raising $2.3B in total capital and helped to “lower the barriers between the disciplines and facilitate interaction with the investment and pharma communities.”

CLP’s Executive Advisory Board members, said O’Halloran, were “an extraordinary group of alums and professionals across the industry, neighbors, investors throughout the Chicago region who have a deep and abiding interest in promoting transdisciplinary research and facilitating the translation of new discoveries from the bench rapidly out to society.”

At the Forefront of Cancer Research

Three Northwestern faculty members gave presentations on innovations in cancer research. Nathan Gianneschi, PhD, Jacob and Rosaline Cohn Professor of Chemistry, Departments of Chemistry, Materials Science & Engineering, Biomedical Engineering and Pharmacology, discussed his work using protein-like polymers (PLP) as an effective delivery platform for peptide-based therapeutics. Josh Leonard, PhD, Associate Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering; Charles Deering McCormick Professor of Teaching Excellence, presented his work developing new tools for engineering cell therapies through synthetic biology. Daniela Matei, MD, Diana, Princess of Wales Professor of Cancer Research; Professor of Medicine (Hematology and Oncology) and Obstetrics and Gynecology, Feinberg School of Medicine, provided an overview of her pioneering research into the significance of transglutaminase (TG2) and fibronectin (FN) protein complex, in cancer metastasis.

“We’re trying to find chemicals that would block a complex of two proteins which we believe are important in metastasis in ovarian cancer,” said Matei.  “People have never looked at it from this standpoint.”

Hottest Trends in Cancer Therapeutics and Technologies

The program then segued into a panel discussion about the hottest trends in cancer therapeutics and technologies led by Simone Fishburn, PhD, VP & Editor-in-Chief of BioCentury. Panelists included Andrew Chan, MD, PhD, Senior VP of Research Biology at Genentech, Neil Kelleher, PhD, the Faculty Director of Northwestern Proteomics, Elizabeth McNally, MD, PhD, Director, Center for Genetic Medicine; Elizabeth J. Ward Professor of Genetic Medicine in the Feinberg School of Medicine, and Nicholas Saccomano, PhD, CSO-SVP, Pfizer Boulder Research and Development.  Chan is the chair of of CLP’s Executive Advisory Board.

Panelists touched upon topics ranging from immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) development, the future of small molecule kinase inhibitors, to the applications of revolutionary gene editing approaches and proteomics in oncology.

“There’s been a lot of advances in biology and technologies to advance the field of cancer immunotherapy. One of the recent advances is tiragolumab, a novel cancer immunotherapy designed by Genentech/Roche, that binds to TIGIT, an immune checkpoint protein expressed on immune cells,” said Chan, a member of CLP’s Executive Advisory Board. “The impact of the first wave of cancer immunotherapy with PD1/PD-L1 has revolutionized the treatment of melanoma, renal cell, lung and made inroads in breast metastatic cancers.” Chan noted that the company is embarking on multiple phase 3 clinical programs that are “just the tip of the iceberg.”

Breakthroughs in the Pipeline

Three senior biopharma executives provided updates on their companies’ lead cancer therapies.  Barbara Klencke, MD, Chief Development Officer, Sierra Oncology (SRRA) described the clinical stage drug development of momelotinib, a potent, selective and orally bioavailable JAK1, JAK2 & ACVR1 inhibitor, for the treatment of myelofibrosis. Mani Mohindru, PhD, CEO, CereXis and a member of CLP’s Executive Advisory Board, discussed the biotech company’s progress on promising treatments for rare brain tumors, such as Neurofibromatosis 2 (NF2). Jonathan Zalevsky, PhD, Chief Research and Development Officer, Nektar (NKTR), detailed the company’s diverse pipeline, including its lead candidate bempeg, a CD122-preferential interleukin-2 (IL-2) pathway agonist which, in combination with nivolumab, is currently in pivotal Ph3 trials in adjuvant treatment of melanoma and invasive bladder cancer.

Investing in Chicago’s Life Sciences Ecosystem

The program wrapped up with a panel discussion on financing and investing in oncology biotech led by Jay Olson, CFA, Research Analyst with Oppenheimer & Co. Olson provided analysis on trends in FDA approvals, IPOs, and M&A activity. Vanessa Bhark, Senior Associate, Frazier Healthcare Partners, Maha Katabi, PhD, CFA, General Partner, Sofinnova Investments, Michael Margolis, RPh, Managing Director, Oppenheimer & Co, and Alex Munns, Assistant Portfolio Manager, Senior Analyst Driehaus Capital, participated in the discussion.

“We have fantastic academic centers in Chicago and a growing sense of the financial capabilities of some of the groups, including ours here in Chicago,” said Munns. “I’m excited to continue to build Chicago into a thriving ecosystem in the life sciences that will make it look more on par with what our colleagues and friends in Boston, San Francisco and New York are doing.”

Click below to view the event recording:

Read Oppenheimer’s detailed report: “Stars Align at CLP Biotech Summit—Highlights from Our 2nd Annual Event.”

By Lisa La Vallee