Explore the Agenda
7:30 am Check In & Morning Coffee
8:20 am Chair’s Opening Remarks
Driving Precision Medicine in the General Population Through Improved Diagnostics & Strategic Partnerships
8:30 am Equitable Biomarker Testing: Findings from the Delivering Accurate Real-Time Biomarker Testing (DART) Research
- Understanding barriers to biomarker testing from the Delivering Accurate Real-time biomarker Testing (DART) research
- Implications for patients and the workforce
- Does genomics widen health inequalities
8:50 am Clinical Validation of Myriad Genetics’ Ultra-Sensitive pan-cancer WGS-based Precise MRD assay
- Understand how ultra-sensitive, tumor-informed MRD testing is being applied across clinical and development settings
- Walk away with a clear view of where ultra-sensitive MRD testing delivers value today and how to apply it across your own programs
9:20 am Treating on MRD Result: A New Paradigm for MRD-Guided Adjuvant Therapy
Presentation details to be announced
9:50 am Improving Rare Disease Diagnostics With Multiomics
- Short-read whole genome sequencing has revolutionised the diagnosis of rare diseases in clinical services, but nonetheless still only 25-30% of patients achieve a diagnosis
- New ‘omics approaches including long-read sequencing and epigenetic profiling, transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics offer the potential to increase this proportion, including in non-European ancestry patients
- Genomics England’s rare disease program pilot analyses suggest that using combinations of these approaches may lift the overall proportion of rare disease patients receiving a genetic diagnosis to over 40%, of great benefit to the families concerned
10:10 am Accelerating Clinical Timelines with Submission-Ready MRD Regulatory Infrastructure
- Benefits of Ultrasensitive ctDNA: Discover how NeXT Personal utilises whole genome sequencing and tumor-informed personalised panels, tracking up to 1,800 high-quality variants to optimise signal-to-noise ratios in plasma timepoints
- Evidence-Based Drug Development: Hear from James Hadfield of AstraZeneca to discuss specific use cases and key highlights from the CALLA Phase III trial in cervical cancer
- Streamlined Global Regulatory Strategies: Discover a "least burdensome" regulatory approach for drug development
10:40 am Accelerating Precision Medicine Through Illumina’s Global Ecosystem
- Expand global patient access through Illumina’s commercial and regulatory expertise
- Enable custom CDx development through Illumina’s network of assay development partners
- Utilise TruSight Oncology Comprehensive to drive biomarker identification, clinical validation, and oncology patient access throughout the world
11:10 am Morning Break & Networking & Refreshments
TRACK A: Biomarker Discovery & Translation
TRACK B: Clinical & CDx Development
TRACK C: Rx-Dx Commercialisation & Adoption
TRACK A: Biomarker Discovery & Translation
Exploring Biomarker Strategies for Immunotherapy & Novel Conjugate Therapies to Refine Treatment Decisions
12:00 pm PD-L1 as a Biomarker for Immunotherapy; Imperfect but Important
Executive Director, Head of PMB Immuno- Oncology (IO) Franchise, AstraZeneca
- Reflecting on the immuno-oncology Dx landscape
- Discussing challenges for integrating CDx in immuno-oncology trials
- Navigating what’s next for immunotherapy CDx?
12:20 pm Delegates are welcome to attend presentations in the other tracks
12:50 pm Establishing a Biomarker-Driven Approach to Guide Patient Selection for pre|CISION® Peptide-Drug Conjugates Using Tumour Targeting/Release & Payload Sensitivity Biomarkers
Associate Director, Clinical Science & Translational Medicine, Avacta Therapeutics
- Avacta’s pre|CISION® peptide-drug conjugates comprise a peptide moiety bound to a cytotoxic payload by a linker that is specifically cleaved by FAP, a protease selectively overexpressed in the tumour microenvironment of many solid tumours
- AVA6000 (FAP-activated doxorobucin) is completing Phase 1b and has shown promising results, whilst AVA6103 (FAPactivated exatecan) is due to enter the clinic in Q1 2026
- A pan-cancer evaluation of FAP expression across multiple datasets supports the identification of tumour types most likely to benefit from FAP-activated pre|CISION® therapeutics
- Pan-cancer evaluation of DNA-damage response pathways enables identification of patient subsets most likely to benefit from payload-driven therapeutic activity
TRACK B: Clinical & CDx Development
TRACK C: Rx-Dx Commercialisation & Adoption
1:10 pm Lunch Break
1:40 pm 1:1 Meetings & Structured Networking
TRACK A: Biomarker Discovery & Translation
TRACK B: Clinical & CDx Development
TRACK C: Rx-Dx Commercialisation & Adoption
TRACK A: Biomarker Discovery & Translation
Integrating High Sensitivity Biomarkers for More Accurate Prediction & Tailored Disease Management in Chronic & Neurological Indications
2:00 pm How to Develop a Translational Assay for Target Engagement to Support Preclinical Drug Development in Neurodegenerative Disorders
Translational Science, Bioassays & Biomarkers Expert Formerly, AviadoBio
- Reviewing the concept of translation assay development
- Showcasing tools available
- Optimising design principles
2:20 pm Digital Biomarkers for Precision Neuroscience
Executive Director, Co-Founder & Chief Scientific Officer, Monument Therapeutics
- Neuroscience drug development has historically suffered a low success rate, in part due to a lack of diagnostic specificity
- We are entering a new era of precision medicine in psychiatry and neurology, enabled by novel digital biomarkers
- Monument Tx is a clinical-stage biotech company developing stratified therapeutics for schizophrenia and neuroinflammation, exemplifying this approach
TRACK B: Clinical & CDx Development
TRACK C: Rx-Dx Commercialisation & Adoption
2:40 pm Afternoon Break
Optimising Biomarker Testing Infrastructure for Faster Clinical Decisions & More Confident Early-Stage Rx-Dx Developments
3:10 pm Building Resilient Biomarker Infrastructure: From Pandemic Preparedness to Clinical Testing Excellence
- Accelerating biomarker delivery through integrated assay platforms – how Moderna’s UK Clinical Biomarker Laboratory is enabling rapid, compliant deployment of immunoassay, cytometry, and molecular methods for global clinical programs
- Embedding automation and AI in sample and data workflows – leveraging robotic biobanking, and digital traceability to enhance efficiency, reproducibility, and data integrity
- Pandemic preparedness and translational resilience – establishing high-containment and rapid-assay transfer capabilities to respond to emerging pathogens and future public-health challenges
3:30 pm IVD Regulatory Implications for Gene Therapies
- Showcasing early readouts of PD activity to support dose selection is critical-Gene therapy is an increasingly expanding therapeutic modality that has the potential to reach patient populations with high unmet medical needs
- Several key characteristics of gene therapies require careful selection of patients both during clinical trials and after regulatory approval
- These patient selection strategies may trigger the requirement for a companion diagnostic, either to identify patients with preexisting immunity to AAV capsids or with specific genetic variants
- Companion diagnostics have regulatory implications throughout development as well as marketing implications after approval