Author: Julius

On 19 October 2022, CPR conducted a virtual presentation to students pursuing a Master of Science in Biotechnology (Coursework) degree from the National University of Singapore’s Department of Biological Sciences.

The talk was organised as part of industry sharing to provide students with the opportunity to build industry connections and gain real-world insights into the field of biotechnology.

In his presentation, CPR CEO Hideaki Shimada shared more about how CPR is leveraging its proprietary technologies to discover promising drug candidates in a shorter amount of time. Explaining the process of drug discovery, he highlighted how monoclonal antibody drugs have the potential to address numerous diseases.

He also pointed out how Singapore’s science ecosystem has been instrumental in helping CPR to drive R&D to create novel therapeutic antibodies. The vibrant R&D scene in Singapore has led to public-private collaboration possibilities and has also attracted promising R&D talent from all over the world.

Overall, the industry exposure from the talk provided participants with fresh perspectives on how their post-graduate degree could lead to various career pathways in the field of biomedical sciences.

On 12 October 2022, we welcomed over 20 students from the National University of Singapore (NUS) to CPR for a lab visit. This visit was part of our annual university-industry collaboration, an initiative which we have embarked on since 2018.  

After organising recruitment webinars for the past two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we were glad that we could resume hosting the students in person as Singapore moved into the endemic phase.  

During the visit, NUS students had the opportunity to observe how we conducted our antibody research at our state-of-the-art research facilities. They met some of our employees who shared insights into their work and the importance of innovation and collaboration in this field of work.  

After conducting a presentation where we introduced our work, the students had the chance to ask questions about career pathways in science. The visit provided a platform for us to increase awareness about the innovation process in drug discovery. By sharing our work, we hope we have inspired them to pursue a career in science after they graduate. We look forward to forging closer relationships with tertiary institutions to support the career development of the next generation of aspiring scientists.  

The 8^th Antibody Symposium was held on 22 November 2021 in the form of a Zoom Webinar. Jointly organised by CPR, the National University of Singapore and A*STAR, this annual event brought together industry, academia and government to present the latest advances in antibody research and treatment.  

Over 320 attendees comprising the research community, industry professionals and tertiary students participated in the full-day seminar.  

Scientists from various institutions including CPR, A*STAR, ETH Zurich, The Pennnsylvania State University, Uppsala University and the  Scripps Research (Florida Campus) shared their latest findings and discoveries on antibody treatments for infectious diseases.  

The two speakers representing CPR were Dr Feng Shu and Dr Yoshinori Narita.  

Dr Feng Shu leads the Lead Optimisation Unit and Automation & Data Management Unit at CPR. Her presentation “A Novel Next Generation T cell Bispecific Antibody Platform” outlined the findings of the protein engineering and pre-clinical results from her research. Dr Feng and her team had developed a novel T-cell bispecific platform that had superior anti-tumour efficacy to conventional CD3 T-cell redirect antibody with T-cell activation status and tumor microenvironment.  

Dr Yoshinori Narita is a Senior Principal Scientist at the Oncology Pharmacology Unit at CPR. His presentation was titled “A Novel Tumor Selective Anti-CD137 Agonist Antibody Activated by Elevated Extracellular ATP In Tumor Microenvironment”. He shared his findings reported in Cancer Discov. 2021 on the STA551, a novel anti-CD137 agonist antibody that exerts agonistic activity selectively in tumors without on-target toxicity in non-tumor tissues, regardless of tumor-associated antigen expression. STA551 is currently being tested in a phase 1 clinical study.  

On 20 October 2021, CPR presented a virtual talk to students pursuing a Master of Science in Biotechnology (Coursework) degree from the National University of Singapore’s Department of Biological Science. Participants comprised local and international adult learners who are keen to deepen their skills and knowledge about the biotechnology industry. 

Titled “Unlocking breakthroughs in drug discovery to address global unmet medical needs”, CPR’s presentation was part of a case studies module aimed at providing real-world insights on the technical and entrepreneurial aspects of the biotechnology industry. 

The lecture was presented by CPR CEO, Hideaki Shimada and focused on how CPR’s antibody engineering technologies and drug discovery expertise have played an instrumental role in driving the discovery of innovative antibody drugs. During his presentation, he also shared how monoclonal antibody drugs have become an important therapeutic option, with multiple antibody drugs now ranked amongst the world’s top-10 selling drugs. 

The lecture ended with a Q&A session where participants had the opportunity to ask more questions about CPR and the biotech scene. Overall, participants found the presentation interesting and appreciated the fresh perspectives of how advancing R&D in this field can help to fight diseases. 

On 15 October 2021, the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB) held a webinar titled “Discover the true landscape of Singapore’s biopharmaceutical industry”. The webinar explored Singapore’s efforts to position itself as a leading global biopharmaceutical hub and discussed future trends and prospects in the industry. The webinar also highlighted how public-private partnerships and the ability to attract talent were instrumental in fostering productivity and innovation within the industry.

CPR CEO Hideaki Shimada was one of the invited guest speakers who shared his perspectives on how CPR has grown and benefitted from Singapore’s R&D ecosystem. During his presentation, Dr Shimada focused on how CPR has drawn on Singapore’s strong infrastructure for biomedical research and supportive policies to establish collaborations with Singapore’s science community, nurture innovation and strengthen its drug discovery platforms.