POSTER SPOTLIGHTS

POSTER 1: Reliable Conjugation Technology For Precision Medicine
Singzyme, a pioneering biotech company based in Singapore, introduces an innovative protein ligation technology platform designed to enhance the manufacturing processes of antibody drug conjugates (ADCs) and other bioconjugates. Leveraging the expertise of a highly skilled team predominantly holding PhDs, Singzyme's platform offers unprecedented precision, efficiency, and scalability. This technology addresses key challenges in bioconjugation, including site-specific ligation, maintaining high yield, and ensuring product homogeneity, thereby significantly improving the therapeutic index of ADCs and expanding the potential of bioconjugates in targeted therapy. Our poster will showcase the underlying mechanism of our technology, its application in the development of next-generation biotherapeutics, and the impact on accelerating the transition from research to clinical applications. Join us to explore how Singzyme is setting new standards in biomanufacturing, contributing to the advancement of personalized medicine.

Sahili Abbas, Nanyang Technological University, Singzyme Pte. Ltd.

POSTER 2: Engineered genome editors and delivery vectors

Wei Leong Chew, Genome Institute of Singapore, A*STAR

POSTER 3: A comprehensive circular RNA design platform for next-generation RNA therapeutics and vaccines

Liao Kuo Chieh, Genome Institute of Singapore

POSTER 4: Peptides Coacervates as a Universal Platform for Intracellular Delivery of Macromolecular Therapeutics
The safe and efficient delivery of biomacromolecules to designated environments remains a challenge in the pharmaceutical industry. The main obstacles are crossing the cell membrane and endosomal entrapment, where delivery vehicles containing the therapeutics are trapped and eventually degraded. Delivery platforms used to address these key challenges, such as liposomes, lipid nanoparticles (LNPs), cell penetrating peptides (CPPs), and viral vectors have several drawbacks including low efficiency, size limitation of encapsulated molecules, dose-dependent cytotoxicity, endosomal entrapment, and immunogenicity. The proprietary universal delivery platform that we have developed overcomes all of these challenges and is based on phase-separating peptides (PSPs) that self-assemble into coacervate microdroplets (CMs). This platform enables the safe delivery of a wide range of macromolecular therapeutics (including proteins, therapeutic peptides, antibodies, mRNAs, CRISPR/Cas9, etc..) within a single delivery formulation. All these modalities (single as well as multiple modalities) are instantaneously recruited with >95% efficiency within the coacervate microdroplets and delivered directly into the cytosol, bypassing classical endocytosis. Our platform enables delivery into a wide range of cells, including tumor cells, hard-to-transfect cells such as T-cells and primary cells, and stem cells. It can thus be employed towards a wide range of therapeutic treatments, including in oncology, infectious diseases, immune therapies, gene therapies, etc...

Ali Miserez, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore


POSTER 5: A platform technology for rational reprogramming of cellular identity
Cellular plasticity allows reprogramming of cell identity via ectopic expression of transcription factors (TFs) that induce and stabilize gene regulatory networks specifying discrete cellular states. For example, transient expression of the Yamanaka factors reprograms diverse cell types to iPSCs; and these can be programmed into further, more developed, lineages using additional TFs. However, facile identification of TF combinations for cell reprogramming remains elusive, mainly because current screening methods are highly multiplexed and consequently challenging to deconvolute. Even if TF switches and effectors of reprogramming can be identified, the circuitry of these components remains obscure since TF expression is not temporally resolved by existing screening methods. We present a high throughput mRNA-based screening method to test all possible combinations of (2, 3, 4… n) TFs from a predetermined subset, to: (i) discover functional TF combinations for cell reprogramming, and (ii) resolve the order/timing in which TFs direct cell reprogramming. We describe screening of 10,000 combinations of 10 TFs involved in pancreatic development, from which we discover several TF cocktails to reprogram iPSC-derived pancreatic progenitor cells into insulin-producing beta cells. This platform technology will be widely applicable to cell reprogramming in general, where the ability to rationally map out genetic circuits determining cell identity will enable diverse applications in fields ranging from synthetic biology to regenerative medicine. Regarding the latter, we believe our technology has great potential to discover in vivo reprogramming methods, through delivering mRNA encoding TF cocktails that leave no genetic footprint in reprogrammed cells.

Yen Choo, Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, Plasticell Ltd.


POSTER 6: Revolutionizing multi-functional and intracellular antibody therapies
DotBio is an IND-validated, highly innovative biopharmaceutical platform company. Our mission is to design the most effective multi-functional and intracellular antibody therapies and derisk the clinical development process. Our proprietary DotBody technology platform is based on the concept of rapid prototyping and modular design. By prefabricating antibody modules, we can combine these modules to build multi-functional antibodies, antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs), and intracellular antibodies at a large scale and in a matter of months. The company generates hundreds of multi-functional antibodies with good developability and screens them in parallel in high-throughput phenotypic assays (HTPAs) against diverse cancer and immune targets on demand. This combinatorial targeting approach allows interrogating many immuno-oncology target combinations in parallel, generating a stack of data that can be analyzed to identify the most potent and derisked antibodies to move into the clinic. The technology is amenable to both extracellular and intracellular disease drivers. One of our out-licensed molecules, a partnership molecule with Junshi Biosciences (JS207) has reached Phase I clinical trials, validating our technology to clinical standards. Funding-wise, DotBio is raising USD 25 M to bring our first tri-specific candidate, DB007, through IND development and first-in-human trials. DB007 reawakens exhausted T-cells that are not responsive to traditional I/O treatments. Remarkably, DotBio has made significant promising progress on intracellular antibody therapies, which is still currently the untapped “blue-ocean” market.

Ke Xin Lui, Nanyang Technological University, DotBio Pte. Ltd.

POSTER 7: Injection-free cellular implant for diabetes management
FormaCyte’s proprietary platform technology is an implantable cell-containing device designed to protect therapeutic cells from the immune system and improve their post-implant survival. Its unique design features improves oxygen access to encapsulated cells and mitigate the need for anti-rejection drugs. We envision that upon under-skin implantation, insulin-releasing cells inside such a device can constantly sense their blood glucose level and release insulin appropriately to provide a sustainable and effective management of diabetes.

Chen Yang, Nanyang Technological University, FormaCyte Therapeutics


POSTER 8: Precision Medicine for the Management of Chronic Inflammatory Diseases
Systemic drug administration has conventionally been prescribed to alleviate persistent local inflammation which is prevalent in chronic diseases. However, this approach is associated with drug-induced toxicity, particularly when the dosage exceeds what is necessitated from the pathological conditions of the diseased tissues. This technology developed is a novel drug delivery technology that is activated to enable the release of appropriate drug payload according to the patient’s condition on the level of disease severity. The drug delivery system is a modular hybrid hydrogel carrier encapsulating the required anti-inflammatory drug which is triggered to release upon exposure to elevated markers of inflammation such as increased protease activity which is commonly upregulated in inflammatory diseases. The technology has been validated for its material, safety, and toxicity studies on ex vivo exudates of clinical samples, in vivo wound model, and arthritis diseased mouse model. The primary targeted indication is Rheumatoid arthritis based on its significant disease unmet need and market size. It aims to become a platform technology as an effective therapy against chronic inflammatory diseases such as inflammation bowel diseases, chronic wounds and topical application. The convenience of the technology offers significant societal benefits, particularly for ageing populations where the incidence of pain and inflammation arising from diseases becomes prevalent with age while potentially eliminating adverse side effects from traditional delivery of drug administration. The technology owner is seeking for collaborations with clinicians, biopharma, biotech companies looking for novel drug delivery systems.

Nguyen Tri Dang, Nanyang Technological University