Friday, December 6, 2024
12-12:40 p.m. Presentation by John Flygare, PhD
12:40-12:55 p.m. Questions & Dialogue
Register for lunch in person with colleagues at MSB Lecture Hall (Room 274) *
In this seminar, John Flygare will discuss innovation in drug discovery, with a particular emphasis on antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs). ADCs are a cutting-edge therapeutic approach that combines the targeting precision of monoclonal antibodies with the cytotoxic effects of chemotherapy agents. This approach is aimed at enhancing tumor selectivity while reducing systemic toxicity. Flygare will explore recent advancements in this field that enable the selective degradation of intracellular oncogenic proteins driving disease progression. He will also present a case study on the founding and progression of his company, Firefly Biologics.
John Flygare is the chief scientific officer of Firefly Biologics, a company he co-founded in 2022. Flygare has over 25 years of experience in the biotech and pharmaceutical industry, including over 15 years leading Antibody-Drug Conjugate research programs at Merck and Genentech. He held leadership roles at Merck where he initiated and led internal ADC programs. Before joining Merck, Flygare spent 17 years at Genentech where he led programs in apoptosis, including the discovery of clinical IAP degraders and BCL-2 selective Venclexta®. Flygare has also lectured extensively at Stanford University where he has taught both undergraduate and graduate courses in organic and medicinal chemistry. He holds a Ph.D. in organic chemistry from Northwestern University and was an NIH Postdoctoral Fellow at Stanford University. Flygare is the author or co-author of more than 100 publications and is an inventor on more than 50 US patents.