Michel Afargan
Head Drug Developments and Radiopharmaceutical Strategies Starget Pharma
Michel is the Head of Drug Development at Starget Pharma.
Michel is a seasoned drug discovery and development executive with over 25 years of experience. He has vast expertise in peptide-based drugs including medicinal chemistry, molecular biology, pharmacology, IND regulations, and pharmaceutical sciences. He was previously the Head of Pharmacology R&D at Peptor, an inventor of the phase 3 novel somatostatin analog Somatoprim® for metabolic disorders, and NET and co-inventor of the backbone-cyclization patents portfolio. He co-founded the consortium “pharmalogica” for early prediction models in drug discovery and development. He has also developed innovative, nanomedicine-based drug delivery systems and precision oncology of molecular targeting drug candidates. Michel has led multiple drug development programs resulting in IND fillings and clinical trials. Michel is a leading lecturer of pharmaceutical sciences and advanced drug delivery systems at the School of Pharmacy, Hebrew University, Israel, and serves as the head of the pharmaceutical industry in the Israeli national pharmacy council. He holds a B.Sc. in Life Sciences, M.Sc. studies in Molecular Biology, B. Pharm (License) in Pharmacy., M.Sc. Pharm., and a Ph.D. at the faculties of medicine, mathematics, and life-sciences of the Hebrew University.
Seminars
- Exploring what works and what does not in existing AI and in silico platforms for faster target and hit identification
- Comparing approaches across modalities, from small molecules to antibodies, to see what drives pipeline success
- Identifying the real bottlenecks in hit discovery and optimization, so screens yield more actionable leads
