Conference Day One
Tuesday June 17, 2025
8:25 am Chair’s Opening Remarks
Pursuing the Potential of the Dark Genome to Unlock a New Target Realm
8:30 am Pioneers’ Panel: Shedding a Light on the Value of the Dark Genome to Raise Awareness & Educate the Wider Community
Synopsis
- Highlighting the vast potential of the dark genome across a range of disease indications to grow appreciation for targeted therapeutics
- Discussing common investor concerns and how to address these to promote funding in the field
- How can we demonstrate proof of concept and improved standard of care for dark genome therapeutics?
9:15 am Beyond the Known Genome: Nonexomics’ Dark Genome Breakthroughs in Cancer & Psychiatric Medicine
Synopsis
- Dark genome’s evolution: from scientific skepticism to therapeutic promise; key paradigm shifts that revealed the dark genome’s disease-driving potential
- NonExomics’ breakthrough platform for dark genome analysis and target discovery to unlock critical insights in cancer and psychiatric conditions
- From discovery to impact: targets in oncology and psychiatric disorders, along with a vision for dark genome therapeutics across diseases
Approaching Unknown Territory: Pursuing Efficient Discovery & Prediction of Robust Target Elements Within the Dark Genome
9:45 am Drugging the Dark Genome: Targeting Non-Coding Regulatory RNAs to Treat Human Disease
Synopsis
- Understanding the biology of regulatory RNAs as essential regulators of gene expression
- Applying next-generation sequencing and machine learning tools to map RegRNAs and the cell-specific genes they control
- Discovery of ASOs that target RegRNAs to upregulate gene expression for the potential treatment of metabolic and CNS disorders
10:15 am Morning Refreshments & Speed Networking
11:15 am Leveraging an In Silico Computational Discovery Platform to Identify Disease Specific LncRNAs
Synopsis
- Analyzing integrated multiomics and clinical data to generate high priority targets
- Challenges in LncRNA target discovery
11:45 am Interrogating the Regulatory Genome to Identify Genetically Validated Drug Targets
Synopsis
- Mapping genome-wide patterns to uncover a link between genetic mechanisms and disease
- Screening large-scale datasets to identify and validate existing druggable targets
- Validating targets with therapeutic potential and stratifying patients by molecular characteristics
12:15 pm Fireside Chat Discussion: Reviewing Comprehensive Methods to Identify Relevant Sections of the Dark Genome to Uncover Novel Targets
Synopsis
- Discussing optimal methods to combine technologies to gain a holistic overview of the dark genome and determine best practice to uncover targets
- Reviewing our understanding mechanisms of dark genome regulation to inform future target prediction across DNA, RNA and protein levels
- Evaluating how disease indication can impact discovery strategy and methods
- Outlining factors to consider in target discovery including long repeats, aberrant splicing, and epigenomics to influence screening methods
1:00 pm Lunch & Networking
Forming the Optimal Drug Development Strategy to Maximize Targeting Efficacy
2:00 pm Building Optimal Vaccines to Treat Oncology & Infectious Diseases Using the AI-Immunology™ Platform
Synopsis
- Leveraging an AI platform for fast and efficient target discovery, antigen selection and validation
- Utilizing flexible functional tools to screen for expression and influence vaccine design
- Demonstrating efficacy and safety in animal models and clinical trials
2:30 pm Equipping Efficient Target Selection to Spearhead Favorable Efficacies
Synopsis
- Determining beneficial target properties to predict effective target profiles
- Considering your drug modality and delivery method and how this may impact targeting ability
- Comparing potential functional efficacy to prioritize beneficial targets among large numbers of potential targets
3:00 pm Round Table: Evaluating Methodologies to Select a Target Disease Indication
Synopsis
- The chicken or the egg? Discussing whether to start with the target or indication to inform discovery strategy
- Determining best practice to screen and identify indications where target is observed with minimal off-target expression
- Reviewing economic burden and competition to highlight profitability, investment prospects and improvement on current standard of care
3:45 pm Visual Biology Approach to Target & Drug Discovery
Synopsis
- Reimagining target and drug discovery with the Lightning.AI TechBio platform
- Utilizing Pathway Light™ to image hundreds of cellular pathways in healthy and diseased cells to generate new, large-scale data for the biology of disease
- Identifying and analyzing dysregulated pathways of disease to identify novel targets and optimize small molecules to modulate mRNA biology