Chemical Biology for Target Validation

Small molecule drug discovery has approached a critical junction where the rigorous pre-clinical validation and prioritizing of novel targets is of utmost importance. Challenged with thinning development pipelines and significant losses in revenue, greater emphasis is being placed on the stringent selection and validation of targets and candidate molecules to increase success and reduce attrition rates in phase II trials.

In response to this challenge, a synergy between drug discovery and chemical biology is emerging as a vital component to providing adequate confidence before launching full discovery programs. The development and utilization of high-quality chemical probes in combination with disease-relevant phenotypic systems provides a powerful approach to obtain a deeper interrogation of target-phenotype relationships - ultimately enriching target validation.

Cambridge Healthtech Institute is proud to announce the Inaugural Chemical Biology for Target Validation conference, established to convene an interdisciplinary collection of leaders in chemical/structural biology, chemical proteomics, medicinal chemistry, synthetic chemistry and chemogenomics to discuss strategies to de-risk novel discovery initiatives.