The modern discovery lab is no longer defined by geography alone – it is defined by how seamlessly science and execution connect across borders. Today’s most ambitious therapeutic programs – from first-in-class transcriptional degraders in resistant leukemias to rapidly advancing small-molecule or other modalities series – demand both deep biological insight and tightly integrated development capability.
This Good Morning Meeting explores how European innovation can be accelerated through a fully integrated discovery engine in India – where medicinal chemistry, biology, DMPK, and early development capabilities operate within a single coordinated ecosystem. Rather than fragmented outsourcing, this model aligns strategy, design, and execution within unified teams that compress DMTA cycles while maintaining scientific rigor and continuity.
Through a case study of a novel oral degrader program and partnership examples spanning big pharma and biotech, we will examine how integrated global collaboration enhances speed, flexibility, and resilience.
As therapeutic science grows more complex, competitive advantage lies not just in breakthrough ideas but in the strength of the engine that turns them into candidates.
Date: Wednesday, 15 April 2026
Time: 8:30 – 11:00
Venue: Medicon Valley Alliance, Arne Jacobsens Allé 15, 2300 Copenhagen S, Denmark – Hub 2
Program
| 8:30 | Networking, registration and light breakfast |
| 9:00 | Welcome and introduction to Medicon Valley Alliance David Munis Zepernick, Director, Member Engagement & Communication, Medicon Valley Alliance |
| 9:05 | Welcome and Introduction to Sai Life Sciences Maneesh Pingle – EVP and Head of Discovery Services, Sai Life Sciences |
| 9:20 | A First-in-class Oral Clinical Candidate Targeting MLLT1 and 3 Degradation for the Treatment of Advanced AML and ALL Including Menin Inhibitor Resistant / Refractory Disease MLLT-1 and -3 are two highly homologous histone reader proteins that are critical mediators of the Super Elongation Complex (SEC), a developmental transcriptional regulator. The SEC, which is commonly hijacked in cancer, promotes RNA Polymerase II dependent transcription of major oncogenes and tumor drivers e.g., MYC, BCL2, CDK6, HOXA9 and MEIS1. SEC-dependent transcription is a recognized driver in multiple AML and ALL sub-populations, such as those defined by KMT2A-rearrangements (KMT2Ar) and NPM1 mutations (NPM1m). Clinical proof-of-concept for targeting the SEC has recently been demonstrated with inhibitors of menin, a protein associated with the SEC in some dependent cancers. However, many patients do not respond to, or rapidly progress on menin-inhibitors. Hence there is a high need for additional therapies that can broadly target SEC dependent cancers including those that are resistant to menin-inhibitors. Targeting MLLT1/3 represents a novel therapeutic approach to blocking the SEC and inhibitors of MLLT1/3 histone reader function have been shown to have anti-cancer activity in a range of AML and ALL cell model systems. In this presentation we will describe the discovery of a first-in-class targeted protein degrader (TPD) of MLLT1/3 that has a markedly improved pharmacological profile vs MLLT1/3 inhibition and a differentiated profile vs menin-inhibition. This encompasses potent activity across a wide range of AML and ALL model systems including those that are resistant to menin-inhibitors. Iain Simpson, VP of Chemistry, Dark Blue Therapeutics |
| 9:45 | Externalized Discovery in Practice: A Client Perspective on Integrated DMTA Partnerships As discovery programs become increasingly complex and timelines more compressed, the success of externalized partnerships depends on integration, responsiveness, and operational reliability across the Make–Test–Analyze (DMTA) cycle. Drawing from firsthand experience collaborating with Sai Life Sciences across both large pharma and biotech settings, this presentation will explore how integrated medicinal chemistry partnerships can accelerate early discovery while maintaining scientific rigor. Within a large pharmaceutical environment, dedicated FTE-based teams delivered complex building blocks and focused libraries under constrained timelines, demonstrating adaptability through rapid reprioritization and scalable resourcing. In a fast-growing biotech context, flexible integrated teams supported parallel chemical series within the same program, aligning capacity with rapidly evolving portfolio needs. Complementary DMPK, biology, and compound management capabilities enabled efficient technical transfer, predictable assay turnaround, seamless compound flow, and consistent, client-compatible data reporting. Together, these experiences illustrate how a coordinated and transparent partnership model can effectively support externalized Make and Test activities, accelerating DMTA cycles while preserving quality and control in modern drug discovery. Michael Deligny, Senior Medical Chemistry Leader |
| 10:10 | Networking |
| 11:00 | End of Good Morning Meeting |
Speakers
 |
Iain Simpson trained as a chemist at the University of Strathclyde and the University of Cambridge before joining the pharma industry in 2002. He is currently VP of Chemistry at Dark Blue Therapeutics (recently acquired by Amgen) and has over 20 years’ experience working as a medicinal chemist and project leader, in large pharma (AstraZeneca), biotech (Vertex) and start-up (Dark Blue Tx). Iain has led project teams across all drug discovery phases including delivery of multiple clinical candidates and contributing to a marketed drug for acute pain (Journavx). Iain has also engaged widely within the CRO space over the years building external cross functional project teams to deliver projects across boundaries. |
 |
Michael Deligny trained as an organic chemist in France, earning his Ph.D. in boron chemistry at the University of Rennes 1 in 2003 before completing a post-doc at the CEA Saclay. He built his career in Belgium, first spending a decade from 2007 at UCB where he participated to identify a TNF inhibitor clinical candidate, now in Phase 2. He joins iTeos Therapeutics in 2017, an immuno-oncology focused biotech, where he led medicinal chemistry programs, managed global collaborations, and drove candidates ENT1 inhibitor toward the clinic, now in Phase 1. After iTeos closed in 2025, he transitioned to independent consulting, supporting biotechs with strategic and hands-on medicinal chemistry leadership.
|
| Organized by | In collaboration with |
 |
 |