Proceedings - Boulder Peptide Foundation

BPS 2025

Bridging Innovative Peptide Designs with Scalable, Manufacturable Solutions for Therapeutic Success

Yvonne Angell

Executive Director, Discovery Chemistry Project Management, WuXi TIDES

ABSTRACT

Solid-phase peptide synthesis (SPPS) is a well-established and efficient method for peptide production. However, in practical applications, certain long or complex peptides tend to adopt secondary structures, both in solution and when attached to solid-phase resins. This structural behavior can lead to peptide aggregation, which poses significant challenges during synthesis by hindering chain elongation and causing solubility issues. Such issues not only complicate the synthesis, but also the purification process due to reduced crude purity resulting in low overall yield. As a result, synthesis and purification of long, complex peptides remain a significant technical hurdle. This presentation will present a case study involving a 57-amino acid peptide containing two free cysteine residues in the final product. By methodically optimizing each step of the synthesis, we were able to minimize aggregation and ensure a high-purity final product suitable for downstream activity assays. In addition, a two-step optimized purification strategy enabled an improved separation of close-eluting impurities and resulted in a higher overall yield. These process improvements enabled the scaleup from 1 g to 10 g, and a 100 g scaleup batch is in progress. This case study highlights WuXi TIDES’s practical approaches to overcoming frequently encountered peptide synthetic and purification obstacles to advance programs to the clinic.

BIO

Yvonne Angell is a pharmaceutical executive with over 20 years at the forefront of drug discovery programs. Her expertise spans a diverse range of therapeutic areas, including neurology, endocrinology, oncology, immunology, hematology, and infectious diseases. Her roles have included target selection, drug design, optimization, evaluating risk assessment, strategic mitigation, and pivotal decision-making to drive projects forward. Moreover, she’s successfully overseen large research teams, made substantial contributions to CMC-related regulatory submissions, and conducted rigorous due diligence for in-licensing of compounds.

Oral Presentations in Scientific Sessions

The session topics for Scientific Program are Peptides in the Clinic, Drug Delivery, Chemistry of Complex Peptides, Spotlight on Discovery, and Peptide Showcase. Abstracts may be submitted via the Apply to Present page on the website. Submissions will be reviewed by the Scientific Advisory Board on a monthly basis and the speaker will be notified of a decision.

Presentation length: Format is 25-30 minutes slide presentation with 5-10 minutes for Q&A, with the exception of Peptide Showcase talks which are 10 minute slide presentations with 5 minutes for Q&A. Please confirm with your session chair to confirm the exact presentation length.

Invited Speakers: Speakers are requested to supply their presentation details 30 days after receiving an invitation to present.

Program Book Deadline: Final abstract and title must be provided no later than September 1st. No changes to the program are possible after this date.

Presentation Format: Oral presenters please provide your presentation slides to the A/V table on the day of your presentation.

Lodging: All speakers are requested to reserve their own room. Discount rates at the conference hotel are available until August 16th.

Registration: All speakers, excluding sponsored presentation speakers, receive a complimentary registration upon approval of the abstract.

Peptide Showcase Description

The Peptide Showcase is an opportunity for an individual or company to “showcase” new ideas, technology and pipeline assets. Priority shall be given to presentations from biotech and startup companies. Service providers and vendors are not eligible. Speakers in the session receive a complimentary event registration.

Posters

Posters can be presented on any topic relevant to peptides including original research, innovative products and technologies.

Eligibility- Any attendee (from academia, industry, biotech or vendor/sponsor) can present a poster. The presentation must contain original scientific thinking. To submit a poster go to the Submit a Poster link from the meeting menu. All submissions are reviewed on a rolling basis and will be notified of approval. September 1st is the last day to submit a poster abstract. Approved posters are published on the BPF website.

A 30 ” x 40″ board shall be provided with thumb tacks. Board will be on an easel and can be rotated for either landscape or portrait formats. Once you apply for a poster, you will get email confirmation that your poster was accepted. The poster session and number assignments will be emailed one week before the Symposium.

Poster boards shall be available for display from 8am to 8pm the day of your assigned poster session. See the program agenda for the poster session schedule.

Public Release

Every presentation at the Boulder Peptide Symposium is automatically recorded. Speakers are required to give consent for sharing of the presentation video with the peptide community.