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AI for Biologics
AI Breakthroughs Powering the Future of Biologics Discovery
May 19, 2026
The AI for Biologics symposium will explore the transformative role of AI and machine learning (ML) in biologics drug discovery. Attendees will leave with insights into both the current capabilities and future opportunities of AI/ML in biologics innovation. We will showcase novel methods developed in-house and outside of pharma/biotech, along with early, promising results, demonstrating their impact on drug discovery pipelines. Join this symposium to learn about the future outlook for AI-driven drug development and its potential to drive breakthrough therapies.

Tuesday, May 19

Registration and Morning Coffee

EXECUTIVE SESSION & PHARMA USE CASES

Organizer's Welcome Remarks

Robin Lockett, Room Operations Lead, Cambridge Healthtech Institute , Contractor , Cambridge Healthtech Institute

FEATURED PRESENTATION:
Transforming Drug Discovery with AI and Data at Scale

Photo of Justin M. Scheer, PhD, Vice President In Silico Discovery & Head, Molecular Computational Team, Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicine , Vice President, In Silico Discovery , Molecular Computational Team , Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicine
Justin M. Scheer, PhD, Vice President In Silico Discovery & Head, Molecular Computational Team, Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicine , Vice President, In Silico Discovery , Molecular Computational Team , Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicine

AI is impacting all aspects of drug discovery, and at J&J we are transforming our entire discovery engine. Biologics discovery is undergoing a massive inflection in AI-technology development that is beginning to unlock opportunities once out of reach. However, translating cutting-edge models into portfolio impact requires consideration of many factors—data capture, benchmarking, and continuous model refinement—turning insight into performance across programs, at scale. In this talk, we describe aspects of how we are realizing the enormous value of integrating AI-technology breakthroughs into existing pharma infrastructure.

Panel Moderator:

PANEL DISCUSSION:
Unlocking the Potential of New Modalities through AI and Automation

Photo of Sebastian Schlicker, Head, Biologics Business Operations, Genedata AG , Head , Biologics Business Operations , Genedata AG
Sebastian Schlicker, Head, Biologics Business Operations, Genedata AG , Head , Biologics Business Operations , Genedata AG

Panelists:

Photo of Barbara Brannetti, PhD, Director Bioinformatics & Biotherapeutic Modeling, Biologics Research Center, Novartis BioMedical Research , Director Bioinformatics & Biotherapeutic Modeling , Biologics Research Center , Novartis BioMedical Research
Barbara Brannetti, PhD, Director Bioinformatics & Biotherapeutic Modeling, Biologics Research Center, Novartis BioMedical Research , Director Bioinformatics & Biotherapeutic Modeling , Biologics Research Center , Novartis BioMedical Research
Photo of Sukru Kaymakcalan, Director, R&D Information Research, AbbVie, Inc. , Director R&D Information Research , R&D Information Research , Abbvie Bioresearch Center
Sukru Kaymakcalan, Director, R&D Information Research, AbbVie, Inc. , Director R&D Information Research , R&D Information Research , Abbvie Bioresearch Center
Photo of Kausheek Nandy, Digital Transformation Director - Research, Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals Inc. , Director of Digital Transformation - Research , Biotherapeutics Discovery Research , Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals Inc
Kausheek Nandy, Digital Transformation Director - Research, Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals Inc. , Director of Digital Transformation - Research , Biotherapeutics Discovery Research , Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals Inc
Photo of Yves Fomekong Nanfack, PhD, Head of AI/ML Research, Takeda , Head of AI/ML - Research , Takeda
Yves Fomekong Nanfack, PhD, Head of AI/ML Research, Takeda , Head of AI/ML - Research , Takeda

Bridging Biological Complexity and Engineering Discipline to Transform Biologics Discovery in the Era of AI

Photo of Athena Hadjixenofontos, PhD, Director, Data Science & Head of AI/ML, Biotherapeutics and Genetic Medicines, Discovery Research, Abbvie , Director , Discovery Research , AbbVie
Athena Hadjixenofontos, PhD, Director, Data Science & Head of AI/ML, Biotherapeutics and Genetic Medicines, Discovery Research, Abbvie , Director , Discovery Research , AbbVie

Combining the capabilities of a leading antibody-discovery organization with cutting-edge machine learning unlocks transformative opportunities in biotherapeutics discovery. At AbbVie, we are embedding predictive models directly into scientific workflows, addressing all aspects of a target product profile. This innovation enables programs to progress faster through stage gates, while also making better medicines by exploring previously inaccessible sequence space. We will share the principles that guide our building of this powerful predictive engine, which relies on a robust data platform and is powered by cross-functional teams shaping the future of biotherapeutics discovery.

Networking Coffee Break

Operationalizing AI-Enabled Structural Biology and Protein Design at Sanofi

Photo of Joseph Batchelor, PhD, Head of Structural Biology, US Biologics Research, Sanofi Group , Head of Structural Biology , US Biologics Research , Sanofi
Joseph Batchelor, PhD, Head of Structural Biology, US Biologics Research, Sanofi Group , Head of Structural Biology , US Biologics Research , Sanofi

We outline how we are integrating AI into Sanofi's Large Molecule Research portfolio. Three main areas will be presented: (1) Improving accuracy of internal predictive models through a large-scale experimental effort; (2) Overview of AI to speed up cryoEM; (3) Structure-enabled AI for affinity maturation of biologics. This approach will help us use AI to accelerate our work and amplify the impact of rationally designed molecules.

NextGenPLM: Structural Awareness at Repertoire-Scale

Photo of Abhinav Gupta, PhD, Principal Machine Learning Scientist, AI Innovation, Large Molecule Research, Sanofi , Principal Machine Learning Scientist , Large Molecule Research , Sanofi
Abhinav Gupta, PhD, Principal Machine Learning Scientist, AI Innovation, Large Molecule Research, Sanofi , Principal Machine Learning Scientist , Large Molecule Research , Sanofi

NextGenPLM: a new paradigm in multimodal foundational models that fuses sequence, 3D structure, and interaction data in a single efficient transformer—enabling high-throughput, repertoire-scale antibody–antigen screening. On a diverse benchmark of antibody–antigen complexes, matches Chai-1 and Boltz-1x on contact-map and epitope accuracy at a fraction of the compute cost. In an internal affinity-maturation campaign, ranking mutants by predicted contact probabilities and masked-language-modeling (MLM) log-likelihoods helped achieve up to 17× affinity improvements—demonstrating its potential for rapid, data-driven biologics discovery.

Transition to Lunch

Session Break

MODELS AND MORE

Using AI to Increase the Success Rate and Throughput of Biologics Discovery

Photo of Yuan Lin, Director Digital Biologics Products, Pfizer Inc. , Director Digital Biologics Products , Digital , Pfizer Inc
Yuan Lin, Director Digital Biologics Products, Pfizer Inc. , Director Digital Biologics Products , Digital , Pfizer Inc

The rapid advancement of biologics, particularly antibody-based therapeutics, has revolutionized the landscape of drug discovery and development. As the complexity and volume of biologics data continue to grow, effective data management strategies have become essential for accelerating research and ensuring data integrity. This presentation explores the intersection of biologics data management and artificial intelligence (AI) in the context of antibody drug discovery.

Operationalizing AI in Biologics Discovery: Embedding Models into Scientific Workflows

Photo of Drazen Nadoveza, PhD, Complex Modalities Domain Architect, Novartis Biomedical Research , Complex Modalities Domain Architect , RX ENG , Novartis Biomedical Research
Drazen Nadoveza, PhD, Complex Modalities Domain Architect, Novartis Biomedical Research , Complex Modalities Domain Architect , RX ENG , Novartis Biomedical Research
Photo of Kannan Sankar, PhD, Senior Expert II, Data Science, Novartis Biomedical Research , Senior Expert II , Data Science , Novartis Biomedical Research
Kannan Sankar, PhD, Senior Expert II, Data Science, Novartis Biomedical Research , Senior Expert II , Data Science , Novartis Biomedical Research

Operationalizing machine learning and generative AI in biologics discovery means more than building models—it involves embedding them into scientific workflows to run analyses alongside experimental data. This talk will cover strategies for streamlining data usage for model training, integrating in silico-generated data with laboratory results, and overcoming implementation challenges.

Digital Transformation across Modalities and Geographies

Photo of Pravin Kumar, PhD, Senior Product Manager, Global Research Informatics Platform and Solutions (GRIPS), Abbvie Bioresearch Center , Senior Manager , AbbVie
Pravin Kumar, PhD, Senior Product Manager, Global Research Informatics Platform and Solutions (GRIPS), Abbvie Bioresearch Center , Senior Manager , AbbVie

Networking Refreshment Break

INNOVATION SPOTLIGHTS FROM ACADEMIA AND INDUSTRY

Introduction to the Innovation Spotlights from Academia & Industry Session

Photo of Douaa Mugahid, PhD, Data Officer, Hi-IMPAcTB Consortium, Harvard School of Public Health , Data Officer for Hi-IMPAcTB Consortium , Immunology & Infectious Diseases , Harvard School of Public Health
Douaa Mugahid, PhD, Data Officer, Hi-IMPAcTB Consortium, Harvard School of Public Health , Data Officer for Hi-IMPAcTB Consortium , Immunology & Infectious Diseases , Harvard School of Public Health

Artificial Intelligence (AI)'s promise in accelerating drug discovery has generated plenty of excitement in biopharma. But how exactly is AI being built and leveraged to fulfill the promise of more scalable and efficient therapeutic design, especially in the field of biologics? Please join me and the speakers of the Innovation Showcase to discover how open source infrastructure, big data, and de novo AI models are changing the biologics development landscape.

Can We Accelerate Vaccine Design with AI

Photo of Bryan Bryson, PhD, Associate Professor, Biological Engineering, MIT , Associate Professor , MIT
Bryan Bryson, PhD, Associate Professor, Biological Engineering, MIT , Associate Professor , MIT

Better Medicines Created Rapidly through de novo Protein Design

Photo of Ben Meinen, PhD, Head, Protein Design, AI Proteins , Head of Protein Design , Protein Design , AI Proteins Inc
Ben Meinen, PhD, Head, Protein Design, AI Proteins , Head of Protein Design , Protein Design , AI Proteins Inc

Miniproteins are a powerful yet underutilized therapeutic modality with a structure that enables binding with high affinity and specificity to their targets and achieves remarkable stability using only canonical amino acids. By combining de novo design with synthetic biology and laboratory automation, we accelerate the discovery and optimization of protein binders and create a vast toolbox of modular miniprotein domains, each with ideal drug-like properties and developability profiles.

Immune Logic Gates: Building the Programming Language for Antibody Function

Photo of Abdulaziz El-Gammal, Cofounder & Chief Product Officer, Proteinea, Inc. , CoFounder & CPO , Proteinea
Abdulaziz El-Gammal, Cofounder & Chief Product Officer, Proteinea, Inc. , CoFounder & CPO , Proteinea

What if you could specify an antibody's immune profile—ADCC without CDC, extended half-life with preserved Fc?R binding—and systematically design the Fc to deliver it? Proteinea is building this capability through what we call "immune logic gates": a framework for programming antibody effector function. This talk introduces the concept and shares how we're constructing the grammar of Fc-immune system interactions.

EDA Toolkit: A Unified Framework for Transparent and Reproducible Data Science Workflows

Photo of Leon Shpaner, Data Scientist, UCLA Health , Data Scientist , UCLA Health
Leon Shpaner, Data Scientist, UCLA Health , Data Scientist , UCLA Health

The EDA Toolkit is an open-source Python library designed to standardize and accelerate exploratory data analysis across domains. It combines automated data profiling, visualization, and preprocessing in a single, reproducible framework. This presentation demonstrates how the toolkit simplifies data strategy, enhances collaboration between teams, and promotes trust in AI model development through transparency and reproducibility.

Q&A with Speakers

Photo of Douaa Mugahid, PhD, Data Officer, Hi-IMPAcTB Consortium, Harvard School of Public Health , Data Officer for Hi-IMPAcTB Consortium , Immunology & Infectious Diseases , Harvard School of Public Health
Douaa Mugahid, PhD, Data Officer, Hi-IMPAcTB Consortium, Harvard School of Public Health , Data Officer for Hi-IMPAcTB Consortium , Immunology & Infectious Diseases , Harvard School of Public Health

Close of Symposium

Refreshment & Networking Break—Transition to Plenary Keynote

PLENARY KEYNOTE PROGRAM

Grab Your Seat! 25th Annual Golden Ticket Prize Giveaway & Organizer’s Remarks*

Cindy Crowninshield, Executive Event Director, Cambridge Healthtech Institute , Executive Event Director , Cambridge Healthtech Institute

*Must be present to win.

Welcome Remarks from the City of Boston and the Office of Mayor Michelle Wu

Photo of Donald Wright, Interim Chief, Economic Opportunity & Inclusion Cabinet, City of Boston , Interim Chief , Economic Opportunity & Inclusion Cabinet , City of Boston
Donald Wright, Interim Chief, Economic Opportunity & Inclusion Cabinet, City of Boston , Interim Chief , Economic Opportunity & Inclusion Cabinet , City of Boston

PLENARY KEYNOTE PRESENTATION:
Rare Conversations: Explorations of the Research, Funding, and Advocacy for Rare Diseases

Photo of Thomas Bartlett, Ambassador, MG Uniter Myasthenia Gravis, Amgen , Patient Ambassador - MG Uniter Myasthenia Gravis , Patient Advocate , Amgen
Thomas Bartlett, Ambassador, MG Uniter Myasthenia Gravis, Amgen , Patient Ambassador - MG Uniter Myasthenia Gravis , Patient Advocate , Amgen
Photo of Catherine Brownstein, PhD, Manager, Molecular Genomics Core Facility, Boston Children's Hospital; Scientific Director, Manton Center for Orphan Disease Research Gene Discovery Core; Assistant Professor, Harvard Medical School , Assistant Professor , Boston Children's Hospital
Catherine Brownstein, PhD, Manager, Molecular Genomics Core Facility, Boston Children's Hospital; Scientific Director, Manton Center for Orphan Disease Research Gene Discovery Core; Assistant Professor, Harvard Medical School , Assistant Professor , Boston Children's Hospital
Photo of Morgan Cheatham, MD, Partner, Head of Healthcare & Life Sciences, Breyer Capital , Partner, Head of Healthcare & Life Sciences , Breyer Capital
Morgan Cheatham, MD, Partner, Head of Healthcare & Life Sciences, Breyer Capital , Partner, Head of Healthcare & Life Sciences , Breyer Capital
Photo of Sebastien Lefebvre, Head of Technology, Data and AI, Aurelis Insights , Head of Technology, Data and AI , Aurelis Insights
Sebastien Lefebvre, Head of Technology, Data and AI, Aurelis Insights , Head of Technology, Data and AI , Aurelis Insights
Photo of Dylan V. Livingston, Founder and President, The Alliance for Longevity Initiatives (A4LI) , Founder and President , The Alliance for Longevity Initiatives (A4LI)
Dylan V. Livingston, Founder and President, The Alliance for Longevity Initiatives (A4LI) , Founder and President , The Alliance for Longevity Initiatives (A4LI)
Photo of William Van Etten, PhD, Co-Founder, CEO & Principal Scientist, StarfleetBio , Co-Founder, CEO & Principal Scientist , StarfleetBio
William Van Etten, PhD, Co-Founder, CEO & Principal Scientist, StarfleetBio , Co-Founder, CEO & Principal Scientist , StarfleetBio
Photo of Susan J. Ward, PhD, Founder & Executive Director, cTAP , Founder & Executive Director , cTAP
Susan J. Ward, PhD, Founder & Executive Director, cTAP , Founder & Executive Director , cTAP

In a unique plenary series of intimate conversations, we will explore the models, drivers, and challenges facing rare disease research. By uniting leaders in precision medicine, bioinformatics, national rare-disease infrastructure, and real-world legislative advocacy, we will give attendees an expansive, cross-disciplinary view of what’s required to deliver faster, more accurate, and more equitable rare-disease cures.

Welcome Reception & 25th Anniversary Celebration in the Exhibit Hall with Poster Viewing

The Bio-IT Kickoff Reception is a reunion, reconnect with friends, explore cutting-edge research, and celebrate innovation! This year, join us in celebrating the 25th Anniversary of Bio-IT World Conference & Expo with cake and champagne as we mark a quarter century of advancing science and technology. Enjoy poster presentations, networking, and vote for the Best of Show and Poster awards.

Close of Day


Register

Conference Tracks

T1: Data Platforms & Storage Infrastructure