Day Two

• Sharing real-world stories from scientists who launched successful DDR-focused startups

• Discussing practical steps for IP strategy, equity negotiations, and CEO recruitment

• Highlighting university-industry collaboration models that accelerate translation

• Bringing together academic founders and investors to explore what makes DDR programs fundable

• Examining licensing, MTA bottlenecks, and funding models across early and late-stage ventures

• Offering insights into risk assessment, strategic partnerships, and scaling innovation

• See how VSPharmTech is developing VS-101 to enable radiosensitizer-driven strategies in glioblastoma

• Clarifying synthetic lethality and combination strategies in GBM

• Exploring regulatory and orphan drug designation progress

• Presenting phase I data on radiotherapy with PARP inhibitors (olaparib, niraparib) across diverse GBM patient populations

• Detailing insights from first-in-human radiotherapy + ATM inhibitor studies advancing into randomized phase II/III trials

• Affirming preclinical evidence that PARP and ATM inhibitors both radiosensitize GBM tumors and protect healthy brain tissue from radiation-induced cognitive decline

• Sharing preclinical and translational data on ATR inhibition in ATM-deficient cancers

• Presenting clinical results from Phase I showing strong efficacy, including a 50% objective response rate

• Highlighting the differentiated strategy of combining ATR inhibition with low-dose chemotherapy to overcome past limitations of monotherapy

• Showcasing patient vignettes and narratives to illustrate real-world impact and translational success

• See how FoRx Therapeutics is progressing PARG inhibition with FORX-428 to differentiate from other DDR targets

• Positioning FORX-428 as a best-in-class candidate for PARG inhibition in cancer treatment

• Updating on the translational research activities and biomarker identification for patient selection in the ongoing phase I clinical study of FORX-428

• See how Accent Therapeutics is pioneering DHX9-targeted therapy with their lead compound ATX-559

• Outlining the Phase 1 trial dose-escalation design and key study objectives

• Sharing translational insights from preclinical data, including biomarker strategy and combination potential to guide future development

• See how the MD Anderson Cancer Center is advancing first-in-human trial data for WRN inhibitors in MSI solid tumors

• Interpreting translational relevance and biomarker integration

• Positioning WRN as a synthetic lethality target beyond PARP

• Pioneering a novel approach to dose escalation in radiotherapy–DDR inhibitor trials that reduce delays by testing multiple agents in parallel

• Applying adaptive statistical methods enabling faster determination of safe, effective doses

• Extending early data from lung cancer studies to brain tumors and other hard-to-treat cancers

• See Rakovina Therapeutic’s journey of pivoting a DDR-focused biotech to a fully AI-driven discovery model

• Illustrating case studies of AI-designed DDR programs advancing through preclinical lead selection

• Evaluating predictive accuracy, translational potential, and long-term impact of AI on drug development

• Reflecting on why preclinical mechanisms often fail in the clinic and exploring new ways to rethink PARP inhibitor mechanisms and dosing strategies

• Debating whether current success metrics in DDR drug development align with meaningful patient outcomes and explore shifting the focus to long-term benefit and resistance avoidance

• Sharing cross-disciplinary perspectives on how biomarkers, experimental tools, and trial design innovations can advance precision medicine