Dear Members of the Division of Medicinal Chemistry & Chemical Biology,
It has been almost 6 months now that the COVID-19 has radically changed our lives and work. Researchers around the world had to react quickly and find creative solutions to keep science going. The Medicinal Chemistry and Chemical Biology community have reorganized to contribute to the worldwide effort to fight the coronavirus and make innovation in the service of society possible. This radical change not only happened at an individual level in the labs. Cooperation and scientific exchange took a wholly different dimension. Thanks to the efforts of the community, many things that we would have thought impossible became reality, such as the organization of one of the biggest scientific events in Switzerland online: the SCS Fall Meeting, with its 9 parallel sessions and 400 posters. We are very proud to be part and contribute to the support of this strong and dynamic community. We wish you a nice end of summer and, before we will have the chance to meet you in person again, are looking forward to see you in one virtual meeting room or the other.
Your DMCCB
All information provided in the newsletter is based on the current status. Some of it is subject to changes depending on the development of the global situation.
News from the DMCCB
DMCCB Basel Symposium 2021 - Vote for your favorite topic!
In February 2021, the DMCCB will organize the DMCCB Basel Symposium 2021. This minisymposium will again bring together top-class speakers from industry and academia on a chemical biology, medicinal chemistry or agrochemistry topic.
As usual, the DMCCB relies on the choice of its members to set the topic of the event. Don’t miss the chance to shape the event according to your needs and preferences and vote:
What should be the theme of DMCCB Basel Symposium 2021?
- Drug Discovery in the RNA World
- Allosteric Inhibitors
- Targeted Protein Degradation
Or just send us an e-mail at with your preference!
The voting is open until September 15th. The results will be announced in our next Newsletter, together with more information on the event.
Activities of the DMCCB
Frontiers in Medicinal Chemistry 2021 – Darmstadt, Germany – March 7-10, 2021: For its 2021 edition, this international symposium will be again jointly organized by the DMCCB, the GDCh and DPhG. The event will feature lectures around the topics of immunomodulation, first disclosure/case studies and biophysical methods (NMR, Cryo-EM) as well as a session dedicated to young investigators. Save the date! More information about the programme in the next newsletters
14th Swiss Course on Medicinal Chemistry – Leysin – October 3-8, 2021:
Due to the ongoing pandemic, the five-day course organized by the DMCCB has been postponed by one year and will take place in Leysin on October 3-8, 2021. The course will focus on modern aspects of small molecule drug discovery, hit generation, lead finding and lead optimization campaigns. It is aimed at scientists from industry and academia working in medicinal chemistry and flanking disciplines such as biochemistry, pharmacy, pharmacology, or biophysics. More information can be found on the event’s website.
Swiss Chemical Society Events
SCS Fall Meeting 2020 – Online – August 25, 2020: For the first time the Fall Meeting will take place as an online conference and the talks and lectures will be provided on Zoom. The scientific programme offers Award Lectures presented by leaders in their respective fields, as well as invited and contributed lectures in nine thematic sessions covering all of chemistry. For each of these, there also is a virtual poster session. As usual, there is a dedicated session on Medicinal Chemistry and Chemical Biology(Programme). Registration to join the conference is mandatory to get access to the virtual meeting rooms. Registration is still open and is free for SCS Members.
Activities & events from the European Federation of Medicinal Chemistry (EFMC)
EFMC Virtual Event 2020 – Online – September 7-11, 2020: Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the XXVI EFMC International Symposium on Medicinal Chemistry has been postponed (see below). Nevertheless, not all is lost and an EFMC Virtual Event 2020 will take place during the week of September 7-11, 2020. The EFMC-ISMC will be replaced by two online sessions focusing on First Time Disclosures & Late Breaking News. Cutting-edge science will be presented by 9 invited speakers giving the opportunity to learn about the latest developments while safely remaining at home. The programme of all 2020 EFMC Virtual events is available here:
- September 7 & 8: EFMC-ISMC First Time Disclosures & Late Breaking News
- September 9: EFMC-ISMC & EFMC-YMCS Virtual Poster Session
- September 10 & 11: Virtual 7th EFMC Young Medicinal Chemists’ Symposium
Get to know the DMCCB board members…In every newsletter, we will present a short portrait of one of the DMCCB board members. This month, discover more about Christian Heinis who, among many other tasks, is responsible for the link with the LS2 society within the board.
Christian Heinis is an Associate Professor at the EPFL, Switzerland. He studied Chemistry and Biochemistry at the ETH Zürich and obtained his PhD at the ETH Zürich on protein engineering (2003). After two Post-Docs, one at the EPFL and one at the LMB-MRC in Cambridge, UK, he joined the EPFL as Assistant Professor (2008). His research aims at the development of therapeutics based on cyclic peptides. Towards this end, his lab is establishing new methods for the synthesis and screening of large combinatorial libraries. A current focus of the lab is the development of orally available cyclic peptides and cell permeable ligands based on macrocycles. Christian Heinis is a co-founder of the company Bicycle Therapeutics (Nasdaq: BCYC) and co-director of the NCCR Chemical Biology. He is a member of the DMCCB Board since 2015.
Photo Competition 2020: Back to the Lab: In these very unusual times, the EFMC decided to adapt the annual "Photo Competition" to the situation and run it via Instagram! Share your best #backtothelab picture and tag @euromedchem - the most liked picture at the deadline of August 31 will win the prize! How does it work? See on the website.
EFMC-ISMC 2020: the XXVI EFMC International Symposium on Medicinal Chemistry: The symposium has been postponed by one year. It will take place at the Congress Center Basel from August 29 to September 2, 2021. If you had registered for the Symposium, check the event’s website for information and note that you have a free registration to the September 7-8, 2020: EFMC-ISMC First Time Disclosures & Late Breaking News.
EFMC-YMCS 2020: the 7th EFMC Young Medicinal Chemist Symposium: The symposium is now taking place virtually r. The 2021 edition will take place at the F. Hoffman-la-Roche site, Basel, right after the EFMC-ISMC on September 2-3, 2021.