2026 PLENARY KEYNOTE SESSION:
TRENDS AND INNOVATION DRIVING THE FUTURE OF BIOTHERAPEUTICS

Chairperson’s Remarks
John K. Kawooya, PhD, Private Consultant, Robotics-Plate-Based-Ultra-HT Biologics Purification

From Targets to Biologics: AI Powering the Next Leap in Discovery at Takeda
Yves Fomekong Nanfack, PhD, Head of AI/ML Research, Takeda

Agentic AI for Biologics: Scalable Infrastructure for GxP-Compliant, Insight-Driven Testing
Lieza M. Danan, PhD, Co-Founder & CEO, LiVeritas Biosciences

Technological Trends Shaping the Landscape of Biopharmaceuticals
Aline de Almeida Oliveira, PhD, Competitive Intelligence Office (AICOM), Bio-Manguinhos/Fiocruz, Brazil

PLENARY FIRESIDE CHAT
Moderator:
John K. Kawooya, PhD, Private Consultant, Robotics-Plate-Based-Ultra-HT Biologics Purification
Panelists:
Yves Fomekong Nanfack, PhD, Head of AI/ML Research, Takeda
Lieza M. Danan, PhD, Co-Founder & CEO, LiVeritas Biosciences
Aline de Almeida Oliveira, PhD, Competitive Intelligence Office (AICOM), Bio-Manguinhos/Fiocruz, Brazil

2026 PLENARY KEYNOTE SESSION

Plenary Keynote Introduction
Andrew Nixon, PhD, Senior Vice President, Global Head Biotherapeutics Discovery, Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals Inc.

New Frontier of Biotherapeutic Discovery: Where Machine Learning Meets Molecular Design
Stephanie Truhlar, PhD, Vice President, Biotechnology Discovery Research, Eli Lilly and Company

PLENARY FIRESIDE CHAT: End-to-End in silico-Designed Biologics
Moderator:
Andrew Nixon, PhD, Senior Vice President, Global Head Biotherapeutics Discovery, Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals Inc.

Panelists:
Charlotte M. Deane, PhD, Professor, Structural Bioinformatics, Statistics, University of Oxford; Executive Chair, Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)
Garegin Papoian, PhD, Co-Founder & CSO, DeepOrigin
Stephanie Truhlar, PhD, Vice President, Biotechnology Discovery Research, Eli Lilly and Company

• How is the path to drug development different with ML/AI?
• How far off is de novo design for biologics? For antibodies?
• How is ML/AI used for target selection?
• How do you accelerate DMTA cycles? 
• Data standardization—how to incorporate historical data?
• Federated learning—how do you ensure you have enough data to build a model?
• Promoting change management

2026 KEYNOTES

Designing the Next Generation of Biologics with Enhanced Functionality Using Machine Learning and a Rapid Iteration Wet Lab
Peyton Greenside, PhD, Co-Founder & CSO, BigHat Biosciences

Panel Discussion: Building Multi-Scale and Multi-Modal Models
Moderator:
Winston Haynes, PhD, Vice President, Computational Sciences and Engineering, LabGenius Therapeutics

Panelists:
Qing Chai, PhD, Research Advisor, Biotechnology Discovery Research, Eli Lilly and Company
Peyton Greenside, PhD, Co-Founder & CSO, BigHat Biosciences
Jeremy Wohlwend, PhD, CTO, Boltz

Chairperson’s Remarks
Hunter Elliott, PhD, Senior Director, Machine Learning, BigHat Biosciences

Incorporating in silico Tools into Antibody Discovery: Challenges and Opportunities
Andrew Nixon, PhD, Senior Vice President, Global Head Biotherapeutics Discovery, Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals Inc.

AI for Antibody Design - Going Beyond the Static
Charlotte M. Deane, PhD, Professor, Structural Bioinformatics, Statistics, University of Oxford; Executive Chair, Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)

Redesigning Antibody CDRs to Improve Developability Properties Using Machine Learning 
Peter M. Tessier, PhD, Albert M. Mattocks Professor, Pharmaceutical Sciences & Chemical Engineering, University of Michigan

* As of November 5. Please see individual agenda pages for most up-to-date agenda.