7:30 am Check in & Coffee
8:25 am Chairs Opening Remarks
Frontiers in Glioblastoma: A Comprehensive Overview of Advancements & Challenges
8:30 am Outlining the Landscape in Glioblastoma – Levelling the Playing Field & Identifying Gaps to Explore
Synopsis
Reviewing the state of GBM treatments, including standard of care and recent advancements
Identifying barriers to progress and areas lacking research or innovation and future directions
Addressing disparities in access to cutting-edge treatments and clinical trials
9:00 am Panel Discussion: Addressing the Peaks & Troughs of the GBM Space: What is Promising & Where is Innovation Necessary?
Synopsis
- Highlighting emerging therapies such as immunotherapy and personalized medicine showing potential in GBM treatment
- Discussing barriers such as the blood-brain barrier, tumor resistance, and high recurrence rates
- Exploring key areas for innovation, including diagnostics, drug delivery, and combination therapies
9:45 am Morning Break & Speed Networking Strategies
Strategies for Optimizing Immunotherapy in GBM: Enhancing Efficacy & Tackling the TME
10:45 am Macrophage Derived Immunotherapy in Glioblastoma to Reprogram the Tumor Microenvironment
Synopsis
- Developing cell & gene therapy for solid tumors
- Reprogramming the tumor microenvironment (TME) using hematopoietic progenitor stem cells
- Designing combination I/O treatments taking advantage of the agnostic nature of the technology platform
11:15 am Leveraging Oncolytic Viruses to Overcome the Challenges of the Immunosuppressive Tumor Microenvironment
Synopsis
- Outlining the key factors that enable effective oncolytic virus entry and replication in GBM cells
- Using engineered transgenes or payloads to target and disrupt the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment
- Overcoming immunosuppression using oncolytic viruses to counteract the challenges
- posed by GBM’s immune-resistant environment
11:45 am Leveraging Combination Checkpoint Inhibitors to Regulate Immunological Responses & “Flip” the Tumor Microenvironment
Synopsis
- Examining the molecular pathways which modulate T-cell activation and immune response in the GBM tumor microenvironment
- Reprogramming the tumor microenvironment by enhancing cytotoxic T-cell infiltration and reducing regulatory T-cell activity within GBM, effectively “flipping” the tumor microenvironment
- Investigating synergistic effects in combination therapies with the potential of combining checkpoint inhibitors with other immunotherapies or standard treatments to amplify anti tumor efficacy and overcome immune resistance in GBM
12:15 pm Lunch
Advancing Glioblastoma Diagnosis & Monitoring with Cutting-Edge Imaging Techniques & Novel Biomarkers
1:15 pm Evaluating the Current Field of Liquid Biopsies for Diagnosis, Monitoring & Understanding Molecular Changes in GBM
Synopsis
- Exploring the current state of liquid biopsy technology in glioblastoma
- Investigating challenges and solutions for increasing sensitivity and specificity
- Applying liquid biopsy in diagnosis, monitoring treatment response and detecting recurrence
1:45 pm Novel Approaches to Seeing & Treating Gliomas for Improved Characterization
Synopsis
- Highlighting Pixclara® (18F-floretyrosine, 18F-FET) as first-in-class in the US amino acid PET radiotracer for the characterization of progressive or recurrent glioma from treatment related changes in adult and pediatric patients (US NDA under review; approval expected Q2 2025)
- Developing radiopharmaceutical theranostics for Neurooncology targeting LAT-1 receptor in GBM with Betas: TLX-101 (131I iodofalan)
- Developing radiopharmaceutical theranostics for Neurooncology targeting LAT-1 receptor in GBM with Alphas: TLX-102 (211At phenylalanine)
2:15 pm Afternoon Break & Poster Session
Synopsis
- Want to share your work but not ready for the big stage just yet? The Scientific Poster Session is your prime time to share your work with peers from discovery, preclinical, translational and clinical backgrounds, all working on developing necessary treatments for GBM and other CNS tumors. Get their thoughts on how you can accelerate the progression of your drug pipelines and build connections for potential collaborations to expand your R&D pipelines.
Disrupting the Current Treatment Paradigms: Exploring Cutting-Edge Technology & Upcoming Therapies
3:15 pm Addressing Chemoresistance Using GRP-78 Inhibitors for Reduced Tumor Recurrence
Synopsis
- Outlining proposed mechanisms for chemoresistance in glioblastoma treatment including how glioblastoma cells under stress express GRP-78 on their surface, leading to the anchoring of proteins like PDL-1 and contributing to chemotherapy resistance
- Discussing the potential of GRP-78 inhibitors in blocking the tumor’s ability to anchor chemotherapy drug efflux pumps and other resistance-related proteins, thereby reducing chemoresistance in GBM
- Investigating how targeting GRP-78 could prevent tumor cells from evading chemotherapy, leading to decreased recurrence rates and improved outcomes in glioblastoma treatment
3:45 pm Overcoming TRP Challenges in GBM Therapy with an Albumin Binding Radiopharmaceutical
Synopsis
- Strategies to overcome common challenges of short-lived, rapidly clearing Targeted Radiopharmaceuticals (TRP)
- Transforming targeted radiotherapy with an Evans blue (EB) conjugate. EB binds to albumin, abundant in the blood, resulting in a longer circulatory half-life. Better tissue absorption, retention, and nephroprotection enhance the treatment
- Studies with EB-modified integrin binding peptide significantly improves pharmacokinetics of targeted peptide radiotherapeutics. We demonstrated: (i) efficacy in GBM model, (iii) target engagement and sustained tumor absorption in GBM patients, and (iii) synergistic effect with immunotherapy
- Enhancing the performance of targeting peptides against integrins, SSTR2 and other receptors reported to impact GBM justifies further TRP research
4:15 pm Vaccination by Homologous Antigenic Loading as Adjuvant Therapy for Glioblastoma: Phase I Clinical Trial Analysis
Synopsis
- Developing a novel autologous dendritic cell therapy vaccine (DOC1021) as adjuvant therapy for GBM
- DOC1021 is safe, can be effectively integrated within existing standards of care and appears efficacious in a challenging patient population
- Strong correlations between vaccine genetic signature and peripheral immune responses were observed
- Analyzing the survival data Median survival of this 15/16 MGMTp unmethylated cohort has not yet been reached and is statistically greater (p<0.02) than that of matched historic controls after median 13.7 months follow-up
4:45 pm BPM31510 – A Unique Therapy Targeting Metabolism in GBM
Synopsis
- Tumor metabolism is increasingly recognized as a key driver of glial tumors
- BPM31510 reverses Warburg Effect, and induces ROS in glioblastoma cells
- A frontline phase 2 clinical trial of BPM31510 is ongoing