Webinar Series

Quality Hits at Lightning Speed

Unleash accelerated hit identification with Evotec’s high-throughput screening.

Drug discovery is a fundamental aspect of the pharmaceutical industry that requires meticulous research and experimentation. One critical step in drug discovery is hit identification, the process of finding chemically attractive small molecules that show a desirable biological profile.

The first four parts of the series are available on-demand. Our latest episode on High Content Imaging (#5) will soon be available on demand as well.  

Pt 1 - High Throughput Screening Strategies - Available On-Demand

Unlocking High Throughput Hit Identification Strategies

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In today's dynamic landscape of drug discovery, the quest for high-quality chemical starting points is paramount.


Join us as Dr. Thomas Ahrens, Group Leader, Hit ID & Biophysics at Evotec, shares invaluable insights into the innovative strategies driving high throughput screening (HTS) processes.

The Q&A session is joined by Dr. Helene Jousset Sabroux, Group leader, High Throughput Biology & Screening at Evotec.

During this engaging session, you'll gain:

  • In-depth understanding of the HTS process at Evotec.
  • Insights into the challenges posed by today's HTS landscape.
  • Strategies for mitigating risks in drug discovery projects.
  • A glimpse into Evotec's approach to delivering the best compound starting points to our partners.

Get to Know Our Speaker

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Dr Thomas Ahrens

Group Leader, Hit ID & Biophysics

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Latest update: May 2024

Biography


Dr. Ahrens brings over 25 years of experience in academia and industry to the table, with a background in Molecular Biology, cell-based assays, assay development, and Small Molecule High Throughput Screening. As the Group Leader of the HTS department at Evotec Hamburg since 2014, his expertise is unparalleled.

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Pt 2 - Protein Sciences - Available On-Demand

It All Starts With a Protein – Protein Sciences as a Key to Success in Drug Discovery

Webinar - It All Starts With A Protein

At Evotec, we believe that we are living in a golden age of technological advances, with breakthrough technologies in AI/ML, screening, structural biology, biophysics and beyond. Together with our partners, we support various drug discovery programs and getting the right protein is often critical for success.

Join us as Dr. James Errey, VP, Head of Global Protein Production, discusses the innovative technologies driving protein reagent generation for drug discovery at Evotec. James will share a range of case studies providing practical insights and real-world applications of GPCR structural biology, protein biologics, membrane protein biophysics and high-throughput screening.

Get to Know Our Speaker

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Dr. James Errey

VP, Head of Global Protein Production

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Latest update: May 2024

Biography 


Dr Errey has an MSc in Biotechnology from the University of Kent (1999) and a Ph.D. in carbohydrate biochemistry from the University of East Anglia (2003) under the supervision of Professor Rob Field. He then went on to spend three years as a postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of Professor John Blanchard at Albert Einstein College of Medicine New York studying the enzymology of mycobacterial proteins. In 2006 he returned to the U.K. as a postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of Professor Ben Davis at Oxford University, exploring new methods for the selective post-translational modification of proteins.

In 2008 he joined Heptares Therapeutics Ltd, a GPCR drug discovery company utilizing a novel structure-based drug discovery approach. During his time at Heptares he setup the protein biochemistry and biophysics platform helping to enable the structural determination of a number of therapeutically relevant GPCRs. In 2019 he left SoseiHeptares to Join Evotec as VP Head of Global Protein Production where he is heading Evotecs global protein biochemistry platform.

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Pt 3 - Biophysics - Available On-Demand

Molecular Interactions Matter - Biophysical Screening for Early Drug Discovery

Evotec’s biophysics platform supports drug discovery projects in the use of sophisticated binding and functional techniques to measure the molecular interactions between initial hit compounds and their targets with high throughput, accuracy, and precision. A growing range of biophysical techniques are specifically applied during hit identification.

Join us as Dr. Florian Krieger, VP Biophysics, presents Evotec’s most recent developments in biophysical screening approaches during early drug discovery stages, including an introduction to Evotec’s library sets suitable for biophysical screening. Florian will further discuss case studies covering lead-like screening, fragment-based approaches, and covalent hit identification.

Get to Know Our Speaker

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Dr Florian Krieger

VP Biophysics

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Latest update: June 2024

Biography 


Dr Krieger holds a Diploma in Biochemistry from the University of Halle (2000) with a focus on enzymology and obtained his Ph.D. in Biophysical Chemistry from the University of Basel (2004) in the field of protein folding. He then spent three years as a postdoctoral fellow at Louis Pasteur University Strasbourg studying the modulation of nicotinic acetylcholine receptor by small molecules.

In 2008 he joined Evotec as a Research Scientist and became member of the he biochemical Assay Development group. Since this time, he gained experiences in small molecule HTS approaches but also contributed to the setup of Evotec’s biophysics platform. Since 2022 Dr Krieger is heading the biophysics unit at Evotec Hamburg site as VP Biophysics.

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Pt 4 - Integr. Structural Biology - Available On-Demand

The Role of Structural Insights in Drug Discovery

Structural information plays a pivotal role in drug discovery, and access to 3D information can streamline many aspects across the value chain. 

Dr. Jay Bertrand, Vice President, Head of Global Structural Biology and Evotec's Princeton Site Head, discusses the evolution of structural support to drug discovery projects, and provides insight into choosing the right protein for structural analysis. He will also share case studies on the application of X-ray and cryo-EM to obtain compound-bound protein structures.

Get to Know Our Speaker

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Jay Bertrand

VP Head of Global Structural Biology & Princeton Site Head

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Latest update: July 2024

Biography


Dr Bertrand has a Ph.D. in biochemistry from Georgia Institute of Technology (1994) with a focus on protein crystallography. He then spent three years in Grenoble, France at the Institut de Biologie Structurale where he worked on a joint project with Roussel Uclaf on the antibacterial target MurD before returning to the US to work with Janet Smith at Purdue University. In 2000, Jay transferred from academia to industry with an initial role in Roche Palo Alto providing structural support to inflammation projects before moving on to Pharmacia in Milan, Italy to support oncology projects. While in Milan, Jay’s role evolved from a Principal Scientist to the Head of Structural Chemistry and, during the same time, ownership of the site changed from Pharmacia to Pfizer before eventually becoming Nerviano Medical Sciences. In 2012, he joined Vertex Pharmaceuticals Oxford, UK site as a Research Fellow and Director of Structural Biology and Biophysics. During his time in the UK, he implemented fragment screening techniques that delivered novel chemistry starting points to oncology projects and led the integration of Cryo-EM into the Vertex Oxford workflow. In 2021, he joined Evotec as VP Head of Global Structural Biology and, more recently, took on the role of Princeton Site Head. During his time in academia and industry, Jay has been named in 6 chemical patents and co-authored 32 publications, covering a broad range of targets and therapeutic areas. He’s also participated in teams delivering 11 clinical candidates of which 3 have become marketed drugs.

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Pt 5 - High Content Imaging - Available On-Demand

Illuminating Cellular Processes Through High Content Methods - The Power of Cell Painting in Drug Discovery

Dr. Karsten Kottig, VP Imaging & Analysis and Dr. Sven Schreiter, Senior Research Scientist High-Throughput Screening, share insights into Evotec's high content imaging capabilities, and explain the basic concept of Cell Painting and its usage as a phenotypic platform across drug discovery phases.

Get to Know Our Speakers

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Karsten Kottig

VP Imaging & Analysis

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Latest update: July 2024

Biography 


• PhD in Biophysics from the Max Planck Institute for Biochemistry / TU Munich
• 2000: Joined Evotec Biosystems AG as project leader for software development of the miniaturized high through screening systems (EVOscreen).
• 2002 – 2006: Evotec Technologies GmbH as application manager for single molecule detection systems and scientific software development for image analysis (PicoScreen, Acapella)
• 2007 – 2012: PerkinElmer Cellular Technologies Germany GmbH as project leader for scientific software development for image data management and analysis (Columbus, Harmony)
• 2012 – now: Evotec SE as global leader for high content imaging and analysis.

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Sven Schreiter

Senior Research Scientist High-Throughput Screening

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Latest update: September 2024

Biography


>10 years of experience in academia and industry
Personal background: Molecular Biology, iPSC/Cell-based Assays, High Content Screening and Small Molecule High Throughput Screening

PhD in Biology from the Center for Regenerative Therapies Dresden / TU Dresden

2010 – 2011:
joined Max-Planck-Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology (Evolutionary Genetics group Svante Pääbo) as master student/research fellow
2012 – 2018:
joined Center for Regenerative Therapies Dresden for PhD (work group Elly Tanaka) and Postdoctoral work (Cleansight group).
2018 – now:
joined Evotec as scientist in the High Throughput Screening group

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