UoH to host six-day medicinal chemistry and drug discovery programme

The Federation of Asian Biotech Associations (FABA) will open the fifth edition of MCADDI 2026, Medicinal Chemistry, Drug Discovery and Development India, at the University of Hyderabad on October 25. The six-day programme, being held in Hyderabad it will continue until October 30.

More than 200 industry professionals and researchers are expected to participate in the programme, which will feature lectures and case studies by scientists with experience at global pharmaceutical companies, including Pfizer, Bristol Myers Squibb, AbbVie and Novartis, as well as Indian firms such as Aragen, Aurigene and Sai Life Sciences.

FABA is organising the programme in collaboration with the University of Hyderabad, Science Gurus, Biocon Academy and Aragen Academy, with support from the American Chemical Society’s Division of Medicinal Chemistry and the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry. Dr Balu Balasubramanian, the founding architect of MCADDI, shaped the scientific programme.

“Hyderabad is a fitting home for this edition,” said Prof Pallu Reddanna, Executive President of FABA, noting the growing need for trained medicinal chemists and drug discovery scientists in India.

The programme will feature 31 lectures tracing the drug discovery process from foundational principles to clinical development through case studies. Topics include antibody–drug conjugates, oncology drug discovery, metabolic diseases, targeted protein degraders and molecular glues.

A dedicated artificial intelligence session will examine AI-based drug design and computational tools, with contributions from researchers at SCIINV Biosciences, PI Health Sciences, InSilicoMinds and Novartis.

Featured speakers include Dr Percy Carter of Pfizer, who will deliver the CEO Conclave keynote on advances in breast cancer therapy; Dr Nick Meanwell of the Baruch S. Blumberg Institute, USA; and Dr Alan Korman, Chief Scientific Officer of BlueSphere Bio, USA. The inaugural programme begins at 3.45 pm on Sunday at the university’s

School of Life Sciences, with addresses by Vice-Chancellor Prof J Anuradha, former Vice-Chancellor Prof Goverdhan Mehta and School of Life Sciences Dean Prof Anand K Kondapi.

The CEO Conclave and FABA Awards are scheduled for October 29 at ITC Kohenur, Madhapur. The conclave will include a roundtable on India’s drug discovery and development innovation ecosystem.

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