Bioconjugate-based therapeutics continue to expand both in terms of target indications and platform innovation. As modalities diversify from ADCs towards oligonucleotides, peptides, proteins, and nanoparticles, the demands on payload design have grown more sophisticated. Achieving the optimal balance between potency, selectivity, stability, and safety is central to unlocking the full therapeutic potential of the next generation of conjugates.
This expert panel will explore the strategic and scientific considerations shaping precision payload development across the bioconjugation landscape. The session will examine how chemists, biologists, and translational researchers are innovating in payload engineering to improve therapeutic windows, overcome resistance mechanisms, and broaden the applicability of bioconjugates to new therapeutic targets.
Drawing on perspectives from across the field, this discussion will highlight emerging technologies and design principles that are defining the future of payload optimization, and by extension, the future growth of the bioconjugation field.
Attend this webinar to:
- Gain insights into precision payload strategies and how they influence potency, selectivity, and therapeutic index
- Learn how advances in payload chemistry, linker engineering, and targeting strategies are shaping the next –generation of bioconjugates
- Understand how translational and preclinical learnings guide payload optimization across diverse bioconjugate classes
- Hear expert perspectives on emerging research directions and technological needs that will influence future development across the bioconjugation field
Vincent Rotello
Professor of Chemistry at University of Massachusetts
Vincent Rotello is the Charles A. Goessmann Professor of Chemistry and University Distinguished Professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. He earned his BSc from Illinois Institute of Technology (1985) and PhD from Yale (1990), followed by an NSF postdoctoral fellowship at MIT.
Since joining UMass in 1993, he has received numerous awards, including the Arthur C. Cope Scholar Award (2023) and the Transformational Research and Excellence in Education Award (2016). A Fellow of AAAS and the Royal Society of Chemistry, he is a Highly Cited Researcher (2014–2024).
His research bridges synthetic organic chemistry and biology, focusing on nanotechnology, bioconjugation, nanomedicine, and diagnostics, with over 690 peer-reviewed papers published.
David Thurston
Emeritus Professor of Drug Discovery at Kings College London
David Thurston is Emeritus Professor of Drug Discovery in the Institute of Pharmaceutical Science (IPS) at King’s College London. He has a first degree in Pharmacy, an MSc in Precision Medicine, and a PhD in synthetic medicinal chemistry. David’s academic research team discovered the first example of a C8-linked DNA-interactive Pyrrolobenzodiazepine (PBD) dimer, and, in 2000, he co-founded the oncology biotech company Spirogen Ltd (now part of AstraZeneca) to commercialise this technology, acting as its CSO until 2011. The PBD dimer technology was licenced to a Spirogen spin-out company, Antibody-Drug Conjugate Technology (ADCT), which led to the approval of the ADC loncastuximab tesirine-lpyl (ZynlontaTM) in 2021, a treatment for diffuse large B-cell lymphomas. In 2015, he co-founded the King’s College spin-out company Femtogenix Ltd, which specialised in the design and synthesis of novel ADC payloads, acting as its CSO until 2022. At this point, the company raised Series A funding and transitioned into Pheon Therapeutics Ltd, which is now a clinical-stage ADC company. David has published widely in the medicinal chemistry area, is the author of the textbook Chemistry and Pharmacology of Anticancer Drugs, and was Editor-in-Chief of the Drug Discovery book series of the Royal Society of Chemistry until 2023.
Christian Marsolais
Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer at Theratechnologies
Dr. Christian Marsolais joined Theratechnologies in 2007 and has been Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer since June 2016. He has over 30 years of experience in the research, development, and commercialization of new drugs, and started his career working for global pharmaceutical companies, including Sandoz (now Novartis), Biochem and Pfizer. Prior to joining Theratechnologies, he was part of the global oncology team at Pfizer.
Dr. Marsolais led the medical team, which was central to the approval of Egrifta® by the US FDA, and was also instrumental in the efforts that led to the acquisition of the commercial rights to Trogarzo® in the United States and Europe and its subsequent approval.
Dr. Marsolais holds a PhD in biochemistry from the Université de Montréal.
Lauren Coyle
Launch Commission Editor of Bioconjugate Insights
