2022 Agenda Day 1

Download your copy of the full event guide for a comprehensive view of both conference days.

7:30 am Morning Registration & Welcome Coffee

8:20 am Program Director’s Opening Address

  • Fionnuala Lane Senior Program Director, Biomarkers, Diagnostics & Precision Medicine, Hanson Wade

8:30 am Chair’s Opening Remarks – Analytes in Liquid Biopsies as Oncologic Biomarkers for Early Detection and Drug Development

  • Gary Kelloff Special Advisor, Cancer Imaging Program, National Cancer Institute

Synopsis

• How the field — Industry and academia — is progressing in finding disease earlier & surveying of assays currently available
• Issues of scientific validity: Standards, criteria for reimbursement, acceptable surrogate endpoints
• A survey of ongoing Multicancer Early Detection (MCED) with liquid biopsy—NGS and AI-derived signatures

The Rise of MRD: Moving Drug Development to the Early Stage Disease Setting

9:00 am Novel Methylation Liquid Biopsy Technology for MRD and Surveillance

  • Dejan Knezevic Senior Director, Business Development, Guardant Health

Synopsis

  • Novel methylation technology for liquid biopsy applications
  • Enhanced early detection and MRD with Shield and Guardant Reveal
  • GuardantINFINITY: Supporting the next generation of MRD detection

9:30 am Current Clinical Landscape on the Use of ctDNA for Surveillance and MRD Detection—Early Setting

10:00 am The Evolving Paradigm of Liquid Biopsy in Precision Medicine Driven Drug Development- Opportunities and Challenges of using Minimal Residual Disease (MRD) in Solid Cancers

  • Zheng Feng Director, Global Clinical Biomarkers & Companion Diagnostics, Global Development, EMD Serono

10:30 am Morning Break & Structured Networking

Synopsis

Kick off your time spent at the meeting making valuable connections with industry-leading expertise in applying non-invasive testing technology to detect, monitor, and diagnose disease. Meet peers and establish common ground through focussed conversation, forming meaningful connections lasting beyond this 2-day summit.

Using Technical Findings to Open the Door to More Innovative Clinical Trial Designs

11:15 am ctDNA MRD as a Powerful and Potentially Actionable Biomarker

  • Aadel Chaudhuri Assistant Professor of Radiation Oncology, Washington University School of Medicine

Synopsis

• Bridging the topics of ctDNA MRD assay technical development and clinical implementation
• How are new technical and translational findings being applied to inform clinical trial designs
• Updates on the latest exciting predictive data and trial designs to query ctDNA MRD as a predictive biomarker in breast cancer, colorectal cancer, bladder cancer and lung cancer

11:45 am Identifying High-Risk Populations for Adjuvant Trials Using ctDNA MRD

Synopsis

• Use of molecular residual disease (MRD) for patient stratification or enrichment
• How real-world data can inform clinical feasibility assessments and clinical trial design
• How monitoring of on-treatment ctDNA dynamics and supports early prediction of therapy efficacy

12:15 pm High Quality NGS Techniques for ctDNA Biomarker Detection in Clinical Trials

Synopsis

• Pre-analytical considerations of ctDNA application in Oncology
• FDA-lead SEQC2 study, published on Nature Biotechnology April 2021, provides a reliable basis for clinical experts to select high-quality NGS for the first time, and a referable technical standard for clinical application and large clinical trials of early and advanced cancer patients
• ctDNA-based biomarker detection for therapy selection, response monitoring, minimal residual disease and corresponding NGS solutions of Burning Rock

12:35 pm Clinical Study Planning: The Utility of Liquid Biopsy MRD Studies For Inoperable Cancers

  • Islam Mohamed Clinical Assistant Professor, University of British Columbia

Synopsis

• Overview of upcoming Early stage NSCLC (medically inoperable) MRD clinical trial design
• Clinical application of MRD landmark assessment to make a decision on consolidation immunotherapy
• With implementation underway, providing the rationale behind the study design and outlook on what is anticipated in terms of MRD performance

1:05 pm Networking Lunch

Synopsis

Your opportunity to schedule 1-2-1 meetings with your fellow colleagues and our event partners to find out their scientific innovations, technology capabilities, and assay development opportunities!
New to this space? Get in touch and we can facilitate a conversation for you!

2:05 pm How Could an MRD Approach Contribute Towards the Development of New Therapies in Breast Cancer

  • Dave Cescon Clinician Scientist, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre

Synopsis

• Discussing liquid biopsy based MRD approaches in breast cancer where currently no testing surveillance paradigm exists following curative intent
• Knowledge gaps & limitations of interventional platforms going forward
• Cut off strategies and sensitivity – understanding surrogate measures and response

2:35 pm Exosomes: New Standard In Multi-Analyte Liquid Biopsy Testing

  • Johan Skog Chief Scientific Officer & Vice President, ExosomeDx, a Bio-Techne Brand

Synopsis

  • Exosomes are abundant and stable packages of biomarkers (RNA, DNA and proteins) that enable clinical diagnostics.
  • Exosome based diagnostics, like the ExoDx™ Prostate Test, are used every day to help physicians and patients make informed decisions
  • Exosomes are optimal sources for multi-omics analysis

3:05 pm ctDNA as a Response Biomarker in Solid-Tumor Oncology: Toward Routine Use in Drug-Development

  • Diana Merino Vega Director, Oncology Translational Medicine Strategy & Portfolio, AstraZeneca

Synopsis

  • Review the role of ctDNA as a biomarker of therapeutic response – challenges and opportunities
  • Highlight key decision points where ctDNA is uniquely positioned to add value in drug development
  • Evaluate scenarios to showcase how the routine use of ctDNA enables stronger and faster decisions by predicting response to therapy in solid tumors

3:35 pm Afternoon Networking Break

Synopsis

Explore the exhibition hall to find out more on harnessing the latest in liquid biopsy assays for in-depth biomarker analysis & propelling pipelines forward

4:05 pm Multi-Cancer Early Detection Through Multi-Biomarker Class Liquid Biopsy Testing

Synopsis

  • Multi-cancer early detection (MCED) testing when used as a complement to standard of care (SOC) screening has the potential to increase the number of cancers detected before onset of symptoms
  • The Exact Sciences MCED test is being designed to help detect many types of cancer with a single blood test, including those with no SOC screening
    Explore avenues of collaboration with the

4:35 pm Can Molecular Response Help Predict Clinical Outcome for TKI Treatment in Lung Cancer?

Synopsis

• Model: Lung cancer, Phase 3 study, with comparator arm, and treatment with tyrosine kinase inhibitors
• 3 approaches utilized to examine molecular response either via difference from baseline or via ratio to baseline with arbitrary cut off, and various ways to integrate variant calls from ctDNA
• Correlation with clinical outcome (OR and PFS)
• In one case there is good correlation between molecular response and clinical outcome and in the other not so much

5:05 pm How are Currently Available Techniques Expediting Trial Timelines?

  • Arnab Basu Medical Oncologist, O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of Alabama at Birmingham

Synopsis

• Liquid biopsy has the potential to impact many areas of oncology, starting with treatment selection to screening for cancers
• Logistical and technical challenges remain that may limit aspects of ctDNA utilities
• The utilization of liquid biopsy technologies from feasibility concepts to test implementation in clinical practice is continuously evolving

5:35 pm Afternoon Chair’s Closing Remarks

  • Diana Merino Vega Director, Oncology Translational Medicine Strategy & Portfolio, AstraZeneca

5:40 pm Drinks Reception Hosted by Bio-Techne