Explore the Agenda

7:30 am Check-in, Coffee & Networking

8:20 am Chair’s Opening Remarks

Defining RNA Modality Trade-Offs, Value Propositions & IP Strategy to Reduce Risk & Accelerate Clinical & Commercial Adoption

8:30 am Mapping the RNA Landscape to Strengthen Strategy for Next-Generation Circular & Self-Amplifying Therapeutics

Professor of Translational Engineering, University of Maryland, College Park
  • Establish a clear foundational understanding of RNA modality evolution from linear mRNA to circular and self-amplifying formats to guide early strategic platform selection
  • Identify where circRNA and saRNA deliver meaningful scientific and clinical advantages to help teams prioritize programs with the highest translational potential
  • Illustrate the structural, durability and immunological trade-offs across RNA formats in key areas such as cell therapy and immunotherapy to contextualize upcoming case studies

9:00 am Fireside Chat: Interrogating Next-Generation RNA Value Propositions to Define True Advantage Beyond Linear mRNA & Accelerate Clinical Adoption

Chief Executive Officer & Director, Chimeron Bio
Vice President, Immunology, Sail Biomedicines
  • Clarify which benefits justify moving beyond linear mRNA, and how to differentiate next-gen RNA platforms to secure stakeholder buy-in
  • Pinpoint structural reasons clinical translation has lagged expectations to avoid repeat failures and sharpen value propositions
  • Define where circRNA or saRNA genuinely outperform existing modalities to strengthen investment cases and stand out in a crowded landscape

9:30 am Securing IP Positioning to Protect Innovation & Enable Funding

Partner, Rothwell Figg
  • Navigate crowded LNP, payload, and formulation patent landscapes to safeguard core technology
  • Build freedom-to-operate strategies that attract investors and pharma partners by reducing litigation risk
  • Strengthen patent assets and negotiation leverage by structuring defensible patent families that maximize protection and licensing value

10:00 am Morning Break & Speed Networking

This networking session is your opportunity to get face-to-face with many of the brightest minds working in circular & self-amplifying RNA to establish meaningful connections to pursue for the rest of the conference

Validating Durable, Tissue-Selective RNA Expression to De-Risk Clinical Translation & Accelerate IND-Ready Therapeutic Programs

11:00 am Demonstrating First-in-Human Clinical Translation of Circular RNA Therapeutics in Ischemic Disease

Chief Executive Officer, Circode Biomed
  • Validate circular RNA as a clinically viable therapeutic modality by sharing global first-in-human dosing experience and early clinical insights from ischemic disease programs
  • De-risk indication and modality selection by translating preclinical durability, expression, and safety data into real-world clinical decision-making frameworks
  • Inform next-generation RNA development strategies by extracting early lessons on dosing, delivery, and trial design from one of the field’s first clinical programs

11:30 am Maximizing Durable & Tissue-Selective Therapeutic Expression with Replicating RNA to Accelerate Clinical Translation of STX-001 & Advance STX-003 Toward IND

Synthetic Biology Scientist, Strand Therapeutics Inc.
  • Demonstrate translational insights from STX-001 to validate tolerability, expression durability and clinical feasibility of replicating RNA as a therapeutic modality
  • Unlocking extrahepatic therapeutic opportunities with STX-003 through delivery-agnostic gene circuits that enhance tissue specificity, minimize off-target activity and broaden indication scope
  • Enabling more complex and potent therapeutic designs by integrating replicating RNA architecture with programmable gene circuits to achieve controlled, high-impact expression in vivo

12:00 pm Delivering Self-Amplifying RNA Rabies Vaccines to Achieve Durable Clinical Protection

Senior Scientific Director, Replicate Bioscience
  • Demonstrate how self-amplifying RNA design produces robust immune responses, using rabies as a model indication with defined correlates of protection
  • Uncover how enhanced antigen expression drives longer-lasting immunity, addressing the short durability of existing rabies vaccines
  • Share clinical translation learnings that de-risk RNA vaccine development, including dosing strategy, durability assessment, and endpoint alignment

12:30 pm Networking Lunch

Implementing RNA Delivery & Vector Alignment to Enable Safer Dosing, Localized Activity & Previously Inaccessible Therapeutic Mechanisms

1:30 pm Redefining Non-Hepatic RNA Delivery to Unlock Safer Self-Amplifying RNA at Clinically Relevant Doses

Director, Virology, HDT Bio
  • Demonstrating how extra-hepatic delivery overcomes dose-limiting toxicities, enabling unprecedented clinical dose escalation of self-amplifying RNA without Grade 3 adverse events
  • Connect RNA design, formulation, and process decisions to myocarditis risk, using integrated clinical, preclinical, and mechanistic data to explain why safety failures occur
  • Translate mechanistic insight into actionable delivery strategies, showing how non-hepatic targeting mitigates innate immune activation and supports repeat dosing in next-generation RNA therapeutics

2:00 pm Aligning Self-Amplifying RNA & High-Efficiency Delivery Vectors to Enable Potent, Localized In Vivo CAR-T Activity

Chief Executive Officer & Director, Chimeron Bio
  • Increase intratumoral protein levels by pairing self-amplifying RNA with a highly efficient non-LNP delivery system that drives superior cellular uptake and minimizes systemic leakage
  • Unlock complex, multi-gene therapeutic designs by combining amplification capacity with a vector capable of carrying larger and multiple payloads for deeper IO impact
  • Enhance tumor-selective activity and safety by generating high local expression without blood-borne exposure, enabling in vivo CAR-T mechanisms previously unattainable with LNP or linear mRNA

2:30 pm Afternoon Networking Break & Poster Session

Contribute to the conversation and showcase your groundbreaking research in circular & selfamplifying RNA drug discovery and development. To present a poster, register your place and submit an abstract highlighting your latest discovery

Optimizing RNA Constructs & Delivery Architectures to Achieve Durable Expression, Extrahepatic Targeting & Indication-Fit Therapeutic Performance

3:15 pm Achieving Long-Duration Hepatic Expression with Optimized Self-Amplifying RNA to Transform the Future of Protein Replacement Therapies

Assistant Professor, University of British Columbia
  • Deliver 30-day liver expression after IV administration for the first time by integrating RNA engineering with advanced formulation strategies to overcome historic expression failure in hepatic tissues
  • Unlock therapeutic feasibility for saRNA-based protein replacement by matching the durability of viral systems without relying on genome integration or high-dose repeat administration
  • Reveal mechanistic and translational insights from optimizing saRNA constructs to guide the next wave of durable, redose-ready therapeutic applications beyond vaccines

3:45 pm Advancing Peptide-Based circRNA Delivery to Enable Extrahepatic, Inflammation-Tolerant RNA Therapeutics

Chief Operating Officer, Altamira Therapeutics
  • Demonstrate delivery compatibility and performance of circular RNA by using xPhore™ peptide-based nanoparticles to achieve efficient cellular uptake and expression across multiple cell types
  • Differentiate circRNA and linear mRNA applications through head-to-head delivery comparisons, highlighting how identical delivery architectures reveal modality-specific expression profiles and use-case fit
  • Expand RNA therapeutic reach beyond LNP-dominated paradigms by enabling extrahepatic and inflammation-tolerant delivery suitable for tissues poorly served by conventional lipid-based systems

4:15 pm Panel: Comparing Delivery Architectures to Match Modalities to Indication Needs

Director, Virology, HDT Bio
President, SunVax mRNA Therapeutics
Chief Operating Officer, Altamira Therapeutics
  • Debate core trade-offs including tropism, immunogenicity, manufacturability, payload size, and dosing frequency across LNP, AAV, and novel options
  • Determine best-fit delivery platforms for CNS, immune modulation, oncology, hepatic, and neuromuscular indications
  • Address LNP partnership models that support predictable GMP supply and scalable therapeutic development

4:45 pm Chair’s Closing Remarks

5:00 pm End of Conference Day One