1 June - 2 June 2026

5th SCI / RSC Symposium on Anti-Infectives Drug Discovery

Organised by:

SCI’s Fine Chemicals Group and RSC’s Biological and Medicinal Chemistry Sector

Francis Crick Institute, London, UK

Prices start from £255.00

Early bird offer ends 27 April 2026

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. Themed sessions will cover a broad range of anti-infectives spanning antifungals, antibacterials, and antivirals as well as developments towards new therapeutics for global health.

Attendees

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.

Programme

Monday 1 June

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, Paris, France
17.00: Networking reception, posters and exhibition
18.00: Close

Tuesday 2 June

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: Title to be confirmed
Speaker tbc, 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: Title to be confirmed
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 exhibitor information

The exhibition has now sold out. For information on sponsorship, please email conferences@soci.org.

Call for short oral presentations

Contributions are invited from early-career researchers to submit an abstract for a short oral presentation. Individuals interested in giving a 10-minute presentation should submit a one A4-page abstract (or 300 words) indicating title and authors to conferences@soci.org by Friday 10 April 2026 with "Anti-Infectives 26 – short-talk abstract" in the subject line. Please download an SCI_Abstract_Template.

Call for posters and flash presentations

Opportunities are available to present a poster. We particularly welcome submissions from early-career researchers. 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 26 – poster abstract" in the subject line. Selected poster presenters will have the opportunity to give a flash presentation. Please download an SCI_Abstract_Template. First place poster prize winners will receive a complimentary year of full SCI membership.

Bursaries

A limited number of student bursaries are available as a contribution to the cost of registration fees, travel and accommodation. For more information and to receive an application form, please contact conferences@soci.org with “Anti-Infectives 26 – student bursary” in the title by Friday 10 April 2026.

Accessibility Grants

SCI accessibility grants are available to support SCI members with disabilities, long term health conditions, those who require a carer, and members who are nursing parents to attend SCI events. Download an application form to apply for a grant.

Venue and Contact

Francis Crick Institute

1 Midland Rd
London
NW1 1AT

Conference Team

Tel: +44 (0)20 7598 1561

Email: conferences@soci.org

Fees

Early bird - ends Monday 27 April 2026
*RSC/SCI Member - £255
Non-member - £330
*RSC/SCI Student Member - £90

After early bird
*RSC/SCI Member - £290
Non-member - £365
*RSC/SCI Student Member - £130

*RSC members should enter the Event discount code EJRFChem253 and select "Guest member" under the section member type. Delegates will be contacted for their membership number after successful registration.

*RSC student members should enter the Event discount code EJRFChem253S and select "Guest member" under the section member type. Delegates will be contacted for their membership number after successful registration.

All registrations will automatically receive a confirmation within 24 hours of registering for the event. Should you not receive written confirmation of your booking, please email conferences@soci.org.

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Booking Process/Deadlines

Booking terms and conditions

CPD Info

All delegates attending this meeting are able to claim CPD points.

Partners

Exhibitors

Organising committee

Liam Cox, University of Birmingham
Ganesan, Liverpool John Moores University
Caroline Low, Isomorphic Labs
Andrew Stachulski, University of Liverpool
Cinzia Bordoni, Jazz Pharmaceuticals