Oligonucleotide Drug Discovery at Evotec: A Collaboration Between In Silico Design and RT-qPCR High-Throughput Screening

In this webinar, Tanguy Bozec, Vice President Bioinformatics at Evotec, presented the in silico models used at Evotec to filter oligonucleotide sequences based on off-target effects, interspecies conservation, and binding to other targets. He emphasized the importance of incorporating diversity elements into oligonucleotide library design to support retrospective learning and improve screening outcomes. While some oligonucleotide design rules are known and understood, Tanguy noted that much remains to be discovered ― underscoring the continuous need for large-scale experimental screening to generate training data for modelling.

Building on this, Mélanie Carquin, Research Scientist/Team Leader at Evotec, introduced Evotec’s automated high-throughput screening platform, which uses RT-qPCR to evaluate large oligo libraries. Their system enables the assessment of up to 13,000 sequences per day, generating the data needed to refine and validate predictive models.

This talk was given as part of our Open Forum event on data-driven advances in oligonucleotide therapy R&D, “The Data Advantage: Smarter Data Use. Smarter Oligos”. 

Who should watch? 

Biopharma and biotech professionals aiming to accelerate RNA therapy development through digital transformation, advanced data analytics, and AI/ML-driven strategies.