RSC-BMCS / SCI 5th Symposium on Anti-Infectives Drug Discovery
Event
RSC-BMCS / SCI 5th Symposium on Anti-Infectives Drug Discovery
Dates
Monday 1st June, 2026 – Tuesday 2nd June, 2026
Place
Francis Crick Institute, London, UK
Synopsis
With the ever-growing prevalence of drug-resistant pathogens, it has never been more important that we refresh the drug pipeline with new antimicrobials that act on new targets or exhibit novel modes of action. The rise of antimicrobial resistance and recent COVID pandemic serve to highlight the importance of developing effective treatments for infection, and is helping to drive a resurgence in anti-infectives drug discovery and the development of innovative technologies and approaches for combating infection through more effective detection and diagnosis methods.
This two-day symposium will examine the latest advances in anti-infectives drug discovery from a medicinal chemist’s perspective, focusing on the particular challenges associated with developing anti-infectives whilst also showcasing emerging strategies for tackling infection.
Who should attend
This meeting will bring together leading exponents in the field from academia and industry, so will appeal to anyone with an interest in antimicrobial resistance and anti-infectives drug discovery.
Want to become a member?
To join the RSC in order to qualify for discounted registration fees at all RSC, please follow this RSC link.
Registration
For further details on registration, please click here.
Abstracts
Opportunities are available to present a poster. Interested applicants should submit a one A4-page abstract (or 300 words) indicating title and authors to conferences@soci.org by Friday 1 May 2026 with “Anti-Infectives 24 – poster abstract” in the subject line. Selected poster presenters will have the opportunity to give a flash presentation. Please download an SCI_Abstract_Template.
Programme
Monday 1st June 2026
| 9.10 | Registration and refreshments |
| 9.40 | Welcome |
| 9.45 | UKHSA: Supporting the development and evaluation of novel therapeutic agents and combinations for drug-resistant infections Prof Mark Sutton and Dr Joanna Bacon, UK Health Security Agency, UK |
| 10.30 | Addressing the challenges of AMR through partnerships Dr Ed McIver, LifeArc, UK |
| 11.00 | Flash poster presentations |
| 11.10 | Refreshments, posters and exhibition |
| 11.40 | Discovery of secutrelvir (S-892216), a non-peptidic covalent SARS-CoV-2 3CL protease inhibitor Dr Yuto Unoh, Shionogi, Japan |
| 12.10 | Discovery and development of a novel broad-spectrum and biocompatible virucidal antiviral Dr Sam Jones, University of Birmingham, UK |
| 12.42 | Lunch, posters and exhibition |
| 13.45 | Open source malaria series 3: A toolbox of tRNA synthetase inhibitors derived from a reaction hijacker Prof Mat Todd, University College London, UK |
| 14.15 | Accelerating the big bets: Recent progress in malaria drug discovery Dr Paul Willis, Medicines for Malaria Venture, Switzerland |
| 14.45 | The impact of foundation models on improving anti-malarial compounds Dr Andrea Dimitracopoulos, Deepmirror, UK |
| 15.00 | Refreshment break |
| 15.30 | Small molecule hit finding for TB: Combining medchem and biology toolkits to prioritize starting points Dr Alastair Parkes, Evotec, UK |
| 15.45 | Title to be confirmed Prof Rolf Müller, Helmholtz Institute for Pharmaceutical Research Saarland, Germany |
| 16.15 | Allying chemistry and biology to tackle the epigenetics of infection Prof Paola Arimondo, Institut Pasteur, France |
| 17.00 | Networking reception, posters and exhibition |
| 18.00 | Close |
Tuesday 2nd June 2026
| 9.00 | Antifungal drugs and antifungal resistance in a one-health context: Global challenges and opportunities Prof Neil Gow, University of Exeter, UK |
| 9.45 | Improving antifungal drug resilience through combination therapy Prof Elaine Bignell, University of Exeter, UK |
| 10.15 | Flash poster presentations |
| 10.25 | Refreshment break |
| 10.55 | A chemoproteomics-first approach to target validation in phytopathogenic fungi Dr Vlad Pascanu, Syngenta, Switzerland |
| 11.25 | The discovery and development of olorofim, the first-in-class orotomide for the treatment of life-threatening systemic fungal infections Dr Graham Sibley, F2G, UK |
| 11.55 | Early-career researcher short talks |
| 12.25 | Lunch, posters and exhibition |
| 13.30 | Beyond small molecules: Harnessing controlled nitric oxide chemistry as an anti-infective platform Dr Syed Jafri, 30.Technology, UK |
| 14.00 | Targeted protein degradation for antimicrobial resistance: A new frontier in antibiotic development Dr Dubravko Jelić, Selvita, Croatia |
| 14.30 | Exploiting syn-conformation of ATP to develop novel IspE inhibitors with chemical space docking Camilla Ornago, BioSolveIT, Germany |
| 14.45 | Comfort break |
| 15.15 | How to start a medicinal chemistry project in the antibacterial area Dr David Davies, Antabio, UK |
| 15.45 | LpxH inhibitors as antibiotics targeting MDR gram-negative infections Dr Christian Lerner, Roche, Switzerland |
| 16.15 | Five decades of β-lactamase inhibitors: Clavulanic acid and beyond Prof Chris Schofield, University of Oxford, UK |
| 17.00 | Close |
Sponsorship and Exhibitors
For further information and prices, please email conferences@soci.org.
Organising Committee
Cinzia Bordoni, Jazz Pharmaceuticals
Liam Cox, University of Birmingham
A. Ganesan, University of East Anglia
Caroline Low, Isomorphic Labs
Andrew Stachulski, University of Liverpool
Partners
Exhibitors
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