Ruchia Duggal
Merck
Talk Title
DMPK Optimization of Macrocyclic Peptides: Targeting Intra vs. Extracellular sites
Presentation Time
SESSION 6: PEPTIDE DRUG DISCOVERY
Monday, June 26, 2023, at 02:30 pm - 02:55 pm
With advances in peptide screening technologies and strides in medicinal chemistry synthetic technologies, the ability of peptides to expand the druggable proteome is apparent. The path from validated hits to development of a peptide therapeutic requires DMPK optimization to enable optimal exposures near the pharmacological target. DMPK optimization approaches for peptides need to consider the target location and intended route of clinical administration to enable optimal target engagement and resulting pharmacological efficacy.
We will describe these considerations and present case studies from our peptide drug discovery pipeline demonstrating the divergence in peptide DMPK properties and how optimization strategies must be modified based on these considerations.
Dr. Ruchia Duggal is a Principal Scientist in Drug Metabolism at Merck & Co, Boston. She is a recognized SME in beyond rule of 5 (BRo5) space, with a focus on peptides and targeted protein degraders, and has published extensively in this field. She has wide ranging experience leading DMPK strategy on pipeline programs ranging from early discovery to clinical development for various modalities, including small molecules and peptides. She also leads a group of junior scientists working to set up automated, high throughput in vitro technologies to enable faster execution of BRo5 pipeline programs.
She did her Ph.D. in Biochemistry from University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign in Dr. Steve Sligar’s group, where she applied Nanodisc technology to investigate mechanism of steroidogenic CYP17, CYP19 as well as understanding the nature of protein-protein interaction of CYP17 with cytochrome b5. She is passionate about solving challenging therapeutic targets with novel modalities by catalyzing drug designs to reach the ever expanding ‘drug-like space’.
