The Ubiquitin Drug Discovery & Diagnostics conference, held in Philadelphia, included topics covering new therapeutic developments in the field of ubiquitin drug research. This conference report highlights selected presentations on emerging ubiquitin targets in oncology and on proteasome inhibitor therapy for the treatment of multiple myeloma. Investigational drugs discussed include MLN-4924 and MLN-9708 (both Millennium Pharmaceuticals Inc), P-005091 (Progenra Inc), CEP-18770 (Cephalon Inc) and carfilzomib (Proteolix Inc).