ADCs in Oncology Trials: Practical Strategies for Clinical Development Success

Andrew Zupnick, PhD, Vice President, Oncology Drug Development, Catalyst Oncology

Andrew has focused exclusively on oncology for over 25 years and serves as Vice President at Catalyst Oncology. He leads Catalyst’s full-service oncology solution, supporting study optimization, delivery oversight, training and new initiatives across the commercial and operational teams to keep Catalyst at the forefront of industry trends and cutting-edge oncology therapies. Andrew is a cell and molecular biologist with a PhD from Columbia University and a BS from MIT. Andrew began his professional career at Prologue Research, a niche oncology CRO, which was founded out of what became the James Cancer Centre at The Ohio State University and acquired in 2010 by Novella Clinical. At Novella, Andrew led the growth of the organization’s oncology division into a market-leading oncology specialty CRO. After the acquisition of Novella by Quintiles, Andrew spent nearly seven years working within the standalone CRO, subsequently rebranded to IQVIA Biotech in 2019.

Udayan Guha, MD, PhD, Chief Medical Officer, NextCure

Dr. Guha is a physician scientist with more than 15 years of clinical development experience between academia, pharma, and biotech in targeted therapy, immunotherapy, and cellular therapy. Before joining NextCure, he was VP, Head of Clinical Development at TCR2 Therapeutics, now part of Adaptimmune. Prior to TCR2 Therapeutics, Dr. Guha worked in Early Clinical Development as the Clinical Lead for several first-in-class first-in-human immunotherapy studies at Bristol Myers Squibb. Prior to joining pharma and biotech, Dr. Guha had a very productive career in academia as an Investigator at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), National Institutes of Health (NIH), Bethesda, MD where he led a bench-to-bedside-and-back program in targeted therapy in lung cancer. His laboratory research was focused on understanding tumor heterogeneity and mechanisms of resistance to epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) using mass spectrometry-based proteomics, NGS sequencing, and mouse modeling.

Stephanie Kordahi, MS, Senior Director, Clinical Operations, NextCure

Stephanie Kordahi, MS, NextCure is a senior clinical operations professional with experience spanning biopharma, CRO, and academia. She has served as both global and regional clinical operations lead for a variety of complex Phase 1–3 trials, specializing in oncology and rare diseases. She has expertise in a range of therapeutic modalities including ADCs, monoclonal antibodies, and cell and gene therapies. She is currently Senior Director at NextCure, where she built and leads the Clinical Operations department and has played a pivotal role in shaping the company’s ability to integrate operational excellence, risk management, and patient-centric focus into each clinical trial. She has made significant contributions to the clinical trial portfolios of her organizations, through prioritizing site/KOL relationships, anticipating and planning for common hurdles and pitfalls, and streamlining processes in order to optimize clinical trial execution throughout the drug development lifecycle. She received an MS in Drug Development and a BS in Neuroscience from the University of Cincinnati.

Shodeinde (Deinde) Coker, MD, MSc, Executive Medical Director, Biohaven Pharmaceuticals

Dr. Shodeinde “Deinde” Coker is Executive Medical Director at Biohaven Pharmaceuticals. Before joining Biohaven, Dr. Coker led early drug development of several antibody–drug conjugates (ADCs) at Bristol Myers Squibb, bringing deep expertise in translational oncology and early-phase clinical trials. He earned his Medical Degree from the University of Ibadan, Nigeria, followed by graduate training in Clinical Pharmacology at the University of Aberdeen, Scotland, UK. His postgraduate medical training includes an Internal Medicine Residency at Howard University in Washington, DC, and fellowships in Clinical Pharmacology and Hematology/Oncology at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth in Lebanon, NH.

Dr. Coker has received numerous honors, awards and research grants and is board-certified in General Internal Medicine, Medical Oncology, Hematology (ABIM) and Clinical Pharmacology (ABCP).