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Connecting with fellow early drug discovery enthusiasts
In June, European Lead Factory (ELF) Consortium member, Vera Nies (Lygature), attended the 2023 BIO International Convention in Boston. We asked Vera to share her highlights and learnings from the event.
What was the purpose of your visit to the 2023 BIO International Convention?
I was there on behalf of the ELF to explore opportunities for collaboration, and to share with the international scientific community some of our stories of success from the past 10 years.
What were some of the key outcomes?
I had several interesting conversations with people that share the same passion for early drug discovery activities. They understand the value of the ELF compound collection and how screening at the ELF can help to identify new starting points for novel small-molecule-based therapies. They are also often intrigued by how we managed to build our compound collection and our innovative compound-sharing platform in which everyone’s Intellectual Property is adequately protected.
During some of the discussions I had, it became clear that the services offered by the ELF were exactly what they were looking for, being complementary to their own activities. I expect that over the next few weeks, we will have follow-up discussions to further investigate potential areas of collaboration.
I was also fortunate to have spoken with several representatives of organisations that are interested in some of the ELF programmes available for partnering. I am now in the process of linking the relevant programme owners with the interested organisations. This will hopefully lead to a few interesting partnerships that push existing work another step forward and develop results.
Something else that left an impression was hearing how much our work at the ELF is valued. The ELF is unique. Our long-running partnership has established a very high-quality compound collection and we’ve been able to share these compounds in a pre-competitive space and successfully see through many programmes for the research community. These results are recognised and well-regarded.
Developing new therapies is not easy – you need to collaborate and leverage expertise to achieve success. The BIO Convention is great for finding the right partners for the right programme. It was a fantastic opportunity to help spread awareness of the European Lead Factory.
What were the key highlights for you on a personal level?
After many online meetings during the pandemic, I absolutely loved being able to attend such a large event in person. It’s inspiring to be surrounded by people that share similar interests, whether it’s to do with small molecules, digital endpoints, Advanced Therapy Medicinal Products, a certain class of proteins, or regulatory challenges. It was easy to find something to talk about when waiting in line for a coffee. I also really enjoyed running into old friends and colleagues.
What are the follow-up actions coming from the trip?
There are a number of conversations that I am currently following up on with people who are interested in finding out more about how we can collaborate.
Interested in getting in touch? Feel free to reach out to us via the ELF programme office