During the first poster session of the 2025 AACR-NCI-EORTC International Conference on Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics, held in Boston, several presentations highlighted novel strategies that move beyond traditional antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) payloads and targets.

A technology that combines transcriptomic data and AI enables a novel approach to drug discovery based on the state of cells, how they behave and which genes they express. The Drugreflector model, developed by scientists at Cellarity Inc., learns from gene expression profiles and predicts which compounds could induce beneficial changes in that cellular state to develop a treatment.

Positive allosteric modulators (PAMs) of the muscarinic acetylcholine M4 receptor show potential against schizophrenia because they can enhance endogenous acetylcholine signaling, which in turn may mitigate psychotic symptoms as well as improve attention and working memory in individuals with the disorder. However, the efficacy of a promising PAM, CVL-231, has been disappointing in clinical trials.