We are pleased to welcome Dr Alastair Lawson, Senior Fellow from UCB for a seminar on ‘Antibody-enabled small molecule drug discovery’.

The seminar will be hosted by Paul Bowness – Professor of Experimental Rheumatology – Nuffield Department of Orthapaedics, Rheumatology and Musculoskeletal Sciences (NDORMS).

Alastair Lawson has been closely involved with the discovery of UCB/Celltech’s therapeutic antibodies for some thirty-five years, with Mylotarg®, Besponsa®, Cimzia® and Evenity® FDA-approved, and bimekizumab, dapirolizumab pegol and rozanoloxizumab in clinical trials. Alastair led the development of UCB’s proprietary antibody variable region discovery platform, and is now applying structure-based, rational design to antibody discovery. He pioneered UCB’s small molecule protein/protein interaction initiative, in which information derived from antibodies is applied to the discovery and design of new chemical entities. Current research interests include the use of function-modifying antibody fragments to define specific conformations of target proteins, linking X-ray crystallography, orthogonal biophysical techniques, molecular dynamics simulations and antibody technology to small molecule fragment screening.

Alastair’s seminar will cover: – Targeting protein-protein interactions with antibodies and small molecules – Conformational definition of target proteins with function-modifying antibodies – Allosteric modulation of target dynamics – Fragment library design and screening against defined conformations – Properties of small molecules