Zhixiang Chen

Principal Investigator

Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry

Short Biography

Dr. Zhixiang Chen earned his PhD at Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry (SIOC), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), followed by postdoctoral research with Professor Shaomeng Wang at the University of Michigan. He is currently a Principal Investigator at SIOC. Dr. Chen primarily focuses on the medicinal chemistry and chemical biology research based on targeted protein degradation (TPD) technologies. He has made significant achievements in molecular glue and PROTAC drug discovery, with related findings published as the first/co-first author in international renowned journals such as Nature Genetics, Nature Communications, J. Am. Chem. Soc., and J. Med. Chem. (5 papers). He has filed 16 international/US patents as the core inventor, with most licensed/acquired by US company for clinical development.

Presentation Topic: Targeted Protein Degradation for Anti-Cancer Drug Discovery
• Targeted protein degradation technology provides a promising approach for addressing the traditionally undruggable targets associated with tumor resistance. However, PROTAC degraders encounter with poor oral absorption and unclear mechanism compared to their corresponding inhibitors, while molecular glue degraders typically cause off-target degradation.
• Highly potent and orally active CBP/p300 PROTAC degraders were developed, which displayed strong antitumor efficacy in several CRPC prostate cancer models without causing significant toxicity. The distinct mechanism of CBP/p300 degraders compared to CBP/p300 inhibitors was elucidated.
• A highly selective and potent IKZF2 molecular glue degrader was developed. This provides a potential novel combination therapeutic for overcoming resistance to cancer immunotherapy.