January 30 - February 3, 2027
San Diego, CA, USA
January 30 - February 3, 2027
San Diego, CA, USA
Phenotypic screening is experiencing a renaissance in the pharmaceutical industry based on its successful track record in delivering first-in-class medicines stemming from novel biology. Although phenotypic screening may appear at first sight to be similar to target-based screening there are fundamental differences between these two approaches.
This course will cover a range of relevant topics with a goal of providing practical information to help prosecute phenotypic projects more effectively from assay design all the way to clinical trials.
Attendees will leave this course with a practical knowledge of key concepts and strategies in phenotypic screening supported by case studies and literature references to bring back to their organizations.
Morning Session:
Afternoon Session:
Fabien Vincent, PhD
Fabien Vincent is a senior drug discovery scientist with experience as both an in vitro pharmacology group leader and a drug discovery project leader. He gained expertise in pharmacology at Pfizer (2010-2025) as a laboratory head in the Primary Pharmacology Group. There, his laboratory supported the small molecule portfolio of the Immunology & Inflammation research unit, helping deliver 15 clinical candidates with two becoming FDA approved drugs (Abrocitinib, Ritlecitinib).
His remit spanned target identification & validation, designing and executing hit identification & validation strategies, structure-activity relationships (SAR) support, mechanistic studies and study reports for the FDA. His main research interests are centered on drugging tough-but-well-validated targets and improving the translation of preclinical research to patients using physiologically relevant assays and phenotypic screening.
He recently led multidisciplinary teams of Pfizer scientists in analyses of how best to approach phenotypic screening, and specifically how to design the optimal phenotypic assays, those which can best predict compounds and mechanisms that will be effective in patients (Sci. Trans. Med., 2015, 7, 293ps15) as well as how to approach the triage and validation of phenotypic screening hits (Cell Chem. Bio., 2020, 27, 1332) and safety derisking of compound series with novel mechanisms of action (Nat. Rev. Drug Discov. 2022, 21, 899).
He was also a co-organizer of the 2019 Keystone Symposium “Phenotypic Drug Discovery: Recent Advances and Insights from Chemical and Systems Biology” surveying progress and advances in the field of phenotypic drug discovery (Nat. Rev. Drug Discov. 2022, 21, 899).