The community is gathering. No agenda. No presentations. Just your people, in one room. Ask any GPCR scientist where the best conversations at a conference happen, and almost no one points to the podium. They point to the hallway. The coffee line. The dinner that ran long because two people realized they'd been circling the same problem from opposite directions. That is the entire idea behind the GPCR Happy Hour. We take away the talks, the slides, and the vendor booths, and we leave the part that actually matters: the people who care most about GPCR science, in one room, with time to talk. We're hosting the GPCR Happy Hour again in Boston On Wednesday, September 30, the Dr. GPCR community gathers for our next Happy Hour, held mid-week during the Discovery on Target meeting. It's a short walk from the sessions, and a very different kind of evening: no agenda, no presentations, no pitches. Just conversation, among scientists who speak the same language from the moment they walk in. It is scientist-only by design, and it is free to every scientist who comes. That is only possible because of our founding co-hosts. This is a community gathering first, and a fundraiser second. Why we keep it small We cap the room on purpose. A smaller gathering is the difference between meeting three people you'll actually remember and shaking forty hands you won't. When the room stays intimate, conversations go deeper, introductions feel natural, and nobody has to shout over a crowd. If you've ever left a networking event wishing you'd had one real conversation instead of twenty short ones, this is the antidote. Made possible by our founding co-hosts The Happy Hour stays free for every scientist because a few companies who genuinely serve the GPCR community step up to make it happen. This edition, we're proud to introduce our Founding Co-Hosts. Axxam Axxam works with drug discovery teams from the very first question, what to go after, all the way through to a real lead. That covers target identification and validation, assay development, and screening, whether a team brings its own compounds or leans on Axxam's. What stood out to us is the science they bring to the hard cases: their own electrophysiology platform, iPSC-derived cell models, optogenetics, and high-content screening. These are the tools GPCR programs reach for when a target just won't cooperate, and it's a big part of why we're glad to have them in the room. Revvity Revvity makes the tools and technologies that help scientists move from an early discovery toward something that reaches patients. In practice that means taking complicated workflows and making them simpler, and helping teams move faster on the science behind new therapeutics, diagnostics, and disease biology. Whether you're piecing together a signaling pathway or designing what comes next, Revvity is the kind of company that gets involved in the science itself, not just the sale. We're grateful to have them co-hosting again, and for helping keep this evening free and open to every scientist. Who should come If you work on GPCRs, this is for you. Pharma, biotech, academia, core facilities, and students are all welcome. Come whether you're presenting at Discovery on Target, attending it, or simply based nearby and looking to spend an evening with the community. The only thing everyone in the room has in common is that they care about this science, and that turns out to be enough. (If you're a CRO or service provider interested in reaching the community, we'd love to talk about co-hosting a future Happy Hour. Reach out any time.) The details When: Wednesday, September 30, from 6:00 PM Where: Pressed Cafe, 105 Huntington Ave, Prudential Center, Boston Who: GPCR scientists across academia and industry Cost: Free for scientists, made possible by our co-hosts Food and drinks: food and one drink ticket included; cash bar available Capacity: Limited to 50, so registration is required Register your spot here Walk in. You already belong. We'll take care of the rest, and we'd love to see you on the 30th.

Boston, MA, September 15, 2026. Dr. GPCR, the global knowledge hub for G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) research and education, today announced a strategic partnership with Eurofins Discovery, the drug discovery services side of the same group behind the Eurofins DiscoverX products many in the community already know. For the GPCR community, the partnership means getting to know a comprehensive, end-to-end GPCR drug discovery capability: what it covers, how it works, and the scientists behind it, across every stage of a program. That breadth is the point. Across a program, Eurofins Discovery can: Characterize and rank-order compounds by potency, efficacy, selectivity, and safety Profile biased signaling, allosteric modulation, and species-specific pharmacology Deorphanize receptors and identify new ligands Run functional and binding assays (cAMP, β-arrestin, calcium flux, radioligand binding) and purpose-built panels such as gpcrMAX and orphanMAX And because the services are integrated, a target can move from identification and validation through screening, lead optimization, and regulatory potency testing with a single partner. Backing all of it is more than 30 years of GPCR experience, including over 20 years of integrated drug discovery, a portfolio of more than 2,750 assays, and one of the broadest ranges of GPCR targets in the industry, across therapeutic areas including metabolic disease, oncology and immuno-oncology, immunology, and CNS. "Eurofins Discovery brings real breadth and depth in GPCR pharmacology, and I am glad to feature them to our community," said Dr. Yamina Berchiche, Founder and CEO of Dr. GPCR. "Whatever stage a team is at, the services and the expertise are there to move a program forward with confidence." "Dr. GPCR has built a trusted home for the global GPCR community," said Lakshmi Anantharaman, Director of Screening, LeadHunter Services, Eurofins Discovery. "We look forward to sharing our science, our services, and our team's expertise with researchers advancing GPCR-targeted therapeutics." Dr. GPCR and Eurofins Discovery join forces and aim to accelerate GPCR-targeted drug discovery by pairing comprehensive, end-to-end services with an engaged global community of GPCR researchers, and the scientific context that helps teams design better experiments and interpret their data with confidence. Over the coming year, the community will get to know these services, and the scientists behind them, more closely. About Dr. GPCR Dr. GPCR is a nonprofit organization connecting the global GPCR community through training, curated news, expert-led courses, and networking. With over 189 podcast episodes, live and on-demand educational programs, and a growing partner ecosystem, Dr. GPCR empowers scientists and organizations advancing GPCR biology and GPCR-targeted drug discovery. To learn more about Dr. GPCR's educational programs and global GPCR community, visit https://www.ecosystem.drgpcr.com/gpcr-university About Eurofins Discovery Eurofins Discovery is a global drug discovery services provider offering comprehensive, end-to-end GPCR solutions. With more than 30 years of GPCR experience, including over 20 years of integrated drug discovery, a portfolio of more than 2,750 assays, and one of the broadest ranges of GPCR targets in the industry, Eurofins Discovery supports researchers from target validation through candidate advancement, spanning screening, functional and binding pharmacology, custom assay development, and integrated programs. To explore Eurofins Discovery's GPCR services and resources, visit: https://www.ecosystem.drgpcr.com/eurofins-discovery-gpcr-services

Join Dr. GPCR at Discovery on Target 2026 in Boston, where GPCR science runs right through the heart of modern drug hunting. If you work in drug discovery or biotech, Boston in the fall is where the conversation happens. Discovery on Target returns September 28 to October 1, 2026, and this year GPCR science is woven into the broader Lead Generation Strategies program, sitting alongside covalent chemistry, DNA-encoded libraries, biophysics, and direct-to-biology. For us, that is a feature, not a footnote. GPCRs do not live in isolation, and neither do the people working on them. Seeing GPCR programs share a room with the newest hit-finding and lead-generation approaches is exactly how the field moves forward. Our founder, Yamina Berchiche, PhD, is honored to be chairing the Targeting GPCRs session on Wednesday, September 30. In the run-up to the meeting, she sat down with several of the scientists presenting and teaching this year to hear what they are bringing to Boston. Speaker Spotlight Ahead of the meeting, we sat down with four of the scientists presenting and teaching in the GPCR track this year. Here are our conversations. Evan O'Brien, PhD, Johns Hopkins University Dr. O'Brien runs a lab at Johns Hopkins that blends cryo-electron microscopy with protein dynamics to build something closer to a movie of GPCR allostery than a single snapshot. His talk digs into the molecular basis of partial agonism at the mu opioid receptor, using mitragynine pseudoindoxyl and a newly identified allosteric pocket to tune signaling like a rheostat. In a result the field will enjoy, his team solved the same molecule bound in both the active and inactive states of the receptor, and the weak partial agonist still delivered meaningful pain relief in a mouse model. A great example of why what happens in the animal matters as much as what happens in the in vitro assay. Hailong Zhang, PhD, Shanghai Yogar Therapeutics Dr. Zhang is a structural biologist with more than two decades in small molecule research across oncology and metabolic disease. At Discovery on Target he presents YJ-015, a G protein biased APJ agonist developed as an adjuvant to GLP-1 therapy. The idea is elegant: GLP-1 agonists drive rapid weight loss but can take muscle along with the fat, and YJ-015 is designed to preserve muscle while the weight comes off. It is a timely look at how receptor pharmacology can sharpen one of the most talked-about therapeutic areas in the field. Kris Borzilleri, Pfizer A familiar face from last year, Kris Borzilleri is a longtime discovery scientist at Pfizer who moved from soluble proteins into the membrane protein world, bringing a deep biophysics toolkit with her. At Discovery on Target she is giving a talk on an NMR fragment screen against an orphan GPCR, describing how her team navigated hit follow-up to drive down compound potency. She is also co-teaching a short course on biophysical methods for GPCRs, covering protein NMR, SPR, and whole-cell SPR microscopy. Catch her on both the podium and in the classroom. Dr. Terry Kenakin, UNC and Head Instructor at Terry's Corner Dr. Kenakin is teaching a brand-new full-day short course in Boston on Monday, September 28: "The End Game: From Lead Optimization to Drug Candidate Selection." Six hours of instruction centered on the part of discovery where much of the attrition happens, once you actually have a compound in hand. Expect deep, practical treatment of affinity and efficacy, allosteric protein function, early safety, ADME, kinetics, and real case studies of compounds that looked promising and failed in the clinic, with a clear eye on why. As Dr. Kenakin puts it, the goal is to translate moving biological readouts into hard chemical terms that hold up and predict what a molecule will do in people. Why Dr. GPCR Is in This Conversation At Dr. GPCR, our mission is simple: connect the GPCR community, share knowledge, and accelerate innovation. Chairing the GPCR session at Discovery on Target is an extension of what we do every day, spotlighting strong science across academia and industry and bringing the people behind it together. We are a nonprofit, and we have spent six years building a trusted, science-first space for this community. Stepping into the GPCR track at Discovery on Target is part of that work. Inside the GPCR Track This Year The GPCR content is concentrated on Wednesday, September 30, and it spans an unusually wide slice of the field: Antifibrotic and anti-inflammatory targets, including GPR68 Biased ligand discovery and orphan receptors such as GPR75 Designer partial agonism at the mu opioid receptor Small molecule approaches to obesity through GIPR Muscle-sparing strategies for GLP-1-driven weight loss through APJ Structural biology of the opioid receptors using single molecule FRET and cryo-EM Fragment-based discovery for orphan GPCRs Membrane mimetics and how the lipid environment shapes receptor behavior There is also a morning roundtable on modern GPCR-targeted drug discovery, tackling which hit-finding strategies are actually delivering tractable GPCR leads, where AI and machine learning genuinely change the workflow, and which functional readouts teams trust enough to make go or no-go decisions. Keep Learning with Terry's Corner If you cannot get enough of Dr. Kenakin's teaching, Terry's Corner is our room where he breaks down receptor pharmacology, functional selectivity, and ligand bias in ways you can apply directly to your work. You can also sign up for the free weekly Kenakin brief delivered to your inbox at https://www.ecosystem.drgpcr.com/terry-corner#signuptc. We have GPCR-focused courses coming this fall as well, so stay tuned. Join Us in Boston Discovery on Target, Boston, MA. September 28 to October 1, 2026 Track: Lead Generation Strategies, with GPCR sessions on Wednesday, September 30 Registration and full agenda Use code GPCR26200 for $200 off the current registration rate as part of our collaboration with Discovery on Target. Let's connect, let's debate, and let's keep moving GPCR drug discovery forward, together.

<< Back to podcast list Strategic Partner(s) Murat Tunaboylu & Ben Holland About Murat Tunaboylu "Murat Tunaboylu, Antiverse's CEO, has a software engineering and bioinformatics background. Mid-career, he has worked in finance and developed high-frequency trading systems. After switching to biotech, Murat has built cell imaging software and lab robots to accelerate cancer research and automated Thermo Fisher Scientific’s gene synthesis workflows. He has co-founded consultancy and biotech companies Svarlight and Antiverse. His current focus is to realise Antiverse’s mission: engineering the future of drug discovery." Murat Tunaboylu on the web Antiverse DSV Future of Drug Discovery Podcast Twist Bioscience LinkedIn Twitter Dr. GPCR About Ben Holland "Ben gained his masters in Engineering Science from Oxford, taking a specialisation in information engineering. Following this, he joined an early-stage medical device start-up and in 5 years was responsible for project R&D and managing a focused development team, pursued international strategic partnerships, managed IP matters, helped establish a manufacturing line in Malaysia and is named as inventor on several patents. He then returned to information engineering and has been working in machine learning for nearly 10 years, applying it to antibody generation, analysis, and property prediction since 2017" Ben Holland on the web Antiverse The Antibody Society YT LinkedIn Twitter Dr. GPCR Unlock the Full Dr. GPCR Learning Ecosystem ✔ Full Masterclass library ✔ Terry's Pharmacology Corner ✔ Advanced GPCR courses ✔ Scientific discussions → Become Premium Upcoming Live Expert Sessions ➚ 🔒Explore the Full Masterclass ➚ Enjoying the Dr. GPCR Podcast? Leave a Review. Leave a quick review to help more scientists find the show—and help us keep improving every episode. It takes <60 seconds and makes a big difference. ★ Review on Apple Podcasts ★ Rate on Spotify ✉️ Send feedback to the team Thanks for listening to this podcast episode Follow us on your favorite Podcast Player << Previous Podcast Episode Next Podcast Episode >>

<< Back to podcast list Strategic Partner(s) Dr. Oliver Hartley About Dr. Oliver Hartley Oliver Hartley is VP for Drug Discovery at Orion Biotechnology . He is the inventor of OB-002 as well as the key technology underlying Orion’s discovery platform. Trained as a biochemist, he completed a PhD in protein engineering (Cambridge, UK) with Sir Gregory Winter (Nobel Prize for Chemistry, 2018). Since then Oliver has worked at the University of Geneva, where his research on peptide engineering and GPCR pharmacology has led to a series of high-profile publications and new intellectual property, and at the Mintaka Foundation for Medical Research with a role as co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer. Dr. Oliver Hartley on the web LinkedIn Orion Biotechnology Dr. GPCR Ecosystem Unlock the Full Dr. GPCR Learning Ecosystem ✔ Full Masterclass library ✔ Terry's Pharmacology Corner ✔ Advanced GPCR courses ✔ Scientific discussions → Become Premium Upcoming Live Expert Sessions ➚ 🔒Explore the Full Masterclass ➚ Enjoying the Dr. GPCR Podcast? Leave a Review. Leave a quick review to help more scientists find the show—and help us keep improving every episode. It takes <60 seconds and makes a big difference. ★ Review on Apple Podcasts ★ Rate on Spotify ✉️ Send feedback to the team Thanks for listening to this podcast episode Follow us on your favorite Podcast Player << Previous Podcast Episode Next Podcast Episode >>

<< Back to podcast list Strategic Partner(s) Dr. Nicola J. Smith About Dr. Nicola J. Smith Dr. Nicola J Smith is an expert in molecular pharmacology with a track record in exploring GPCR structure-function relationships in the context of cardiovascular disease and metabolic disorders. She is a National Heart Foundation of Australia Future Leader Fellow and runs a laboratory of 7 Ph.D. and Honours students at UNSW Sydney, where she has recently been promoted to Associate Professor. Most recently, Dr. Smith’s team has made advances in the understanding of how an orphan GPCR exerts its effects both in vitro (cell culture and ex vivo models) and in vivo (measures of physiological and pathological cardiometabolic function in unconscious and conscious mice). Together with Irina Kufareva , UCSD, her team developed a novel approach to identifying ligands for orphan GPCRs by developing a powerful new computational tool for identifying ‘surrogate’ ligands (borrowed from other receptors) for orphan GPCRs, named GPCR-CoINPocket. Her career goal is to leverage this expertise to establish a research program that takes orphan GPCRs from ‘locked’, inaccessible receptors to well-characterized and understood ‘unlocked’ therapeutic targets with high-affinity ligands. Dr. Nicola J. Smith on the web UNSW Sydney LinkedIn Retraction Watch Twitter Dr. GPCR Ecosystem Unlock the Full Dr. GPCR Learning Ecosystem ✔ Full Masterclass library ✔ Terry's Pharmacology Corner ✔ Advanced GPCR courses ✔ Scientific discussions → Become Premium Upcoming Live Expert Sessions ➚ 🔒Explore the Full Masterclass ➚ Enjoying the Dr. GPCR Podcast? Leave a Review. Leave a quick review to help more scientists find the show—and help us keep improving every episode. It takes <60 seconds and makes a big difference. ★ Review on Apple Podcasts ★ Rate on Spotify ✉️ Send feedback to the team Thanks for listening to this podcast episode Follow us on your favorite Podcast Player << Previous Podcast Episode Next Podcast Episode >>