February 22 – 24, 2016 

Boston, USA

Day One
Tuesday 23rd February, 2016

Day Two
Wednesday 24th February, 2015

08:50
Chair’s Opening Remarks

  • Dan Hutcheson Former Vice Director – NORD - pRED Strategy & Portfolio, Roche

Driving Success in Neurodegenerative Drug Development: Reinventing Clinical Trials

09:00
Applying Translational Research to Early Clinical Development: Improving the Progression of Candidates for Neurodegeneration

  • Johannes Tauscher Vice President & Head of Clinical Imaging and CNS Experimental Medicine, Takeda

Synopsis

• The importance of target engagement biomarkers to enable quick kill decisions
• Incorporating innovative biomarkers to optimize early clinical trials
• Utilizing adaptive clinical trial design to enable seamless transitions between clinical trial phases
• Maximizing confidence of therapeutic efficacy through initial trials in well defined and relevant populations

09:20
Delayed-Start Clinical Studies: Reflections & Lessons from the ADAGIO Study

Synopsis

• The challenge of symptomatic effect vs. disease modification
• A variety of perspectives on the practicalities of delayed start design
• Interpreting the results to tease out what lies beyond the symptoms
• Analyzing the totality of data to define the outcomes and implications of CNS clinical trials

09:40
Panel Discussion: Revolutionizing Clinical Trial Design to Improve the Progression of Neurodegenerative Therapeutics Through to the Clinic

  • Dan Hutcheson Former Vice Director – NORD - pRED Strategy & Portfolio, Roche
  • Johannes Tauscher Vice President & Head of Clinical Imaging and CNS Experimental Medicine, Takeda
  • Sam Agus Senior Director, Lundbeck
  • Richard Wyse Director of Research and Development, Cure Parkinson’s Trust

Synopsis

• Building upon previous experiences to inspire the future of clinical trial design
• Engaging experts in neurodegenerative clinical trial organisation to make future studies faster, cheaper, lower risk and ultimately more successful
• Harnessing target engagement and quantitative systems pharmacology data to drive clinical trial success
• Debating the drug regulatory approval pathway for neurodegenerative therapeutics

10:30
Morning Refreshments & Networking

11:00
Harnessing the Full Potential of Big Data & Digital Health for More Efficient Clinical Trials

  • Spyros Papapetropoulos Vice President & Global Head of Development Neurodegenerative Diseases, Teva Pharmaceuticals

Synopsis

• Utilizing data sharing and digital health to successfully design and execute clinical trial programs
• How statistical analysis and modelling can reinvent your approach to clinical trials
• Synergizing data and biomarkers to identify patient populations with specific neuropathology for appropriate use as clinical subjects

11:30
Mobile Health: Perspectives on Potential Utility in Neuroscience Early Development

  • Gabriel Vargas Executive Medical Director, General Medicine, Bone , & Neuroscience Therapeutic Area Head, Early Development, Amgen

Synopsis

• Understanding what mobile health is
• Utilizing wearable sensors in clinical trials
• Sensors and devices as pharmacodynamic and safety biomarkers
• Potential applications of mobile health in neuroscience

Revolutionizing Therapeutic Strategies for Neurodegenerative Treatments

12:00
Addressing the Therapeutic Landscape in Parkinson’s Disease

  • Richard Wyse Director of Research and Development, Cure Parkinson’s Trust

Synopsis

• Evaluating the next generation of targets for the production of diseasemodifying therapies
• Harnessing the full potential of drug repurposing for the Parkinson’s Disease clinical pipeline
• Devising clinical strategies for combinatorial drug therapeutics

12:30
Networking Lunch

13:30
How to Apply Our Knowledge of Genetic Drivers in Parkinson’s Disease to Progress the Development of Novel Therapeutics

  • Warren Hirst Associate Research Fellow Neurodegeneration, Pfizer

Synopsis

• How to use genetic data to drive novel pathway and target selection
• Using genetic profiles to identify higher risk patient populations in earlier phases of disease
• Innovating new methods to target genetic causes of neurodegenerative diseases
• The role of GBA and LRRK2 in sporadic Parkinson’s disease

14:00
Defining the Future of Neurodegenerative Therapeutics: Neuroinflammation & the Immune System

Synopsis

• Understanding the pathological role of neuroinflammation and the immune system in the development of neurodegenerative diseases
• Defining dynamic therapeutic strategies for tackling neuroinflammation
• How genetics can drive the identification of novel targets for immune based therapy in neurodegenerative disorders
• Strategies to bridge the gap between mechanistic understanding and disease phenotype

14:30
BACE Inhibitors: The Statins of Neurodegeneration?

Synopsis

• Understanding the current progress of BACE inhibitors through clinical trials
• Identifying strategies for the application of BACE inhibitor therapeutics to pave the way for preventative medicine in neurodegenerative disorders
• Looking forward to the next generation: how we can develop more therapeutically efficient BACE inhibitors
• Evaluating the blockbuster potential of BACE inhibitors

15:00
Afternoon Refreshments & Networking

15:30
Panel Discussion: The Past, Present & Future in Neurodegenerative Therapeutics • Debating the Amyloid Beta hypothesis: Is Amyloid

Synopsis

• Debating the Amyloid Beta hypothesis: is Amyloid Beta the holy grail of treatment targets?
• Applying the combinatorial therapy paradigm: neurodegenerative therapeutic strategies stuck in the dark ages?
• Preclinical and clinical funding strategies to maximize resources for drug discovery and development
• Unifying degeneration: universal strategies for approaching drug discovery and development
• Future potential: a multitude of human data modalities driving the future of the R&D landscape

16:10
Chair’s Closing Remarks

  • Dan Hutcheson Former Vice Director – NORD - pRED Strategy & Portfolio, Roche

16:20
Close of Conference