Merck
Associate Principal Scientist, Preclinical Development
Merck, South San Francisco, California, United States, 94080
Associate Principal Scientist
The Discovery Pharmaceutical Sciences (DPS) group based in South San Francisco, CA is seeking an Associate Principal Scientist with biologics developability/manufacturability experience. DPS is a multi-disciplinary research group that provides drug delivery, solid state crystal form characterization, formulation support and small molecule and biologics developability assessments at the development and drug discovery interface. Our team is responsible for the characterization of pre-clinical drug candidates' physicochemical properties. We aim to work with partner groups to select candidates with optimal development properties while balancing all other key therapeutic properties. Our research also covers identification of preclinical formulations for pharmacology and toxicology studies and ideally for the clinic across a variety of administration routes and modalities (small molecules, peptides, and biologics). In this exciting role, you will focus on the characterization, early formulation studies, developability assessment and delivery approaches for potential biologic drug candidates. You will utilize analytical tools (such as HPSEC, light scattering, HPLC, cIEF, and DSF) to carry out these developability assessments and help identify root causes for physical and chemical instability. Your research will help identify suitable first in human and toxicology formulations. In this role, you will carry out research on traditional and novel biologics formulations. You will serve as a team member and execute lab experiments yourself with minimal supervision. You will generate these key data sets and convey their meaning to the discovery teams you work on developing strategies to optimize molecules, their formulations and initial development activities. Within DPS you will have the opportunity to contribute to departmental scientific initiatives as an individual contributor or as a small team leader. This role will also interact closely with other key functions required for the progression of clinical candidate selection including Safety Assessment, Process Research, Protein Engineering, Analytical Chemistry, and Drug Metabolism and Pharmacokinetics. The successful candidate should have a track record of biologics understanding and development activities as well as a demonstrated track record of problem solving (as evidenced by publication, talks, or patents). Position Qualifications:
Education: Bachelor's (with 12 years ), Master's (with 8 years) or Ph.D. (with 4 years) in Chemistry, Pharmaceutical Science, Protein Engineering or related field of study and relevant experience Required Experience and Skills: Practical experience in the characterization and formulation of biologics Practical experience and/or a strong interest to learn and implement new drug delivery and analytical technologies Practical experience working within cross-disciplinary project teams and achieving results in a matrix environment Strong organizational and technical problem-solving skills and excellent management in driving results and innovation Ability to work independently, as well as collaboratively in a fast-paced environment Excellent verbal and written communication skills Strong leadership/interpersonal skills and a motivation to work in a team environment with cross-functional interactions Preferred Experience and Skills: Experience in an industry setting Demonstrated experience solving program challenges by leveraging strong scientific fundamentals in related subject areas including organic chemistry, analytical chemistry, physical chemistry, process development, and/or engineering Experience in pre-clinical / clinical formulation development and physicochemical characterization and drug delivery of proteins Advanced data analysis and visualization skills
The Discovery Pharmaceutical Sciences (DPS) group based in South San Francisco, CA is seeking an Associate Principal Scientist with biologics developability/manufacturability experience. DPS is a multi-disciplinary research group that provides drug delivery, solid state crystal form characterization, formulation support and small molecule and biologics developability assessments at the development and drug discovery interface. Our team is responsible for the characterization of pre-clinical drug candidates' physicochemical properties. We aim to work with partner groups to select candidates with optimal development properties while balancing all other key therapeutic properties. Our research also covers identification of preclinical formulations for pharmacology and toxicology studies and ideally for the clinic across a variety of administration routes and modalities (small molecules, peptides, and biologics). In this exciting role, you will focus on the characterization, early formulation studies, developability assessment and delivery approaches for potential biologic drug candidates. You will utilize analytical tools (such as HPSEC, light scattering, HPLC, cIEF, and DSF) to carry out these developability assessments and help identify root causes for physical and chemical instability. Your research will help identify suitable first in human and toxicology formulations. In this role, you will carry out research on traditional and novel biologics formulations. You will serve as a team member and execute lab experiments yourself with minimal supervision. You will generate these key data sets and convey their meaning to the discovery teams you work on developing strategies to optimize molecules, their formulations and initial development activities. Within DPS you will have the opportunity to contribute to departmental scientific initiatives as an individual contributor or as a small team leader. This role will also interact closely with other key functions required for the progression of clinical candidate selection including Safety Assessment, Process Research, Protein Engineering, Analytical Chemistry, and Drug Metabolism and Pharmacokinetics. The successful candidate should have a track record of biologics understanding and development activities as well as a demonstrated track record of problem solving (as evidenced by publication, talks, or patents). Position Qualifications:
Education: Bachelor's (with 12 years ), Master's (with 8 years) or Ph.D. (with 4 years) in Chemistry, Pharmaceutical Science, Protein Engineering or related field of study and relevant experience Required Experience and Skills: Practical experience in the characterization and formulation of biologics Practical experience and/or a strong interest to learn and implement new drug delivery and analytical technologies Practical experience working within cross-disciplinary project teams and achieving results in a matrix environment Strong organizational and technical problem-solving skills and excellent management in driving results and innovation Ability to work independently, as well as collaboratively in a fast-paced environment Excellent verbal and written communication skills Strong leadership/interpersonal skills and a motivation to work in a team environment with cross-functional interactions Preferred Experience and Skills: Experience in an industry setting Demonstrated experience solving program challenges by leveraging strong scientific fundamentals in related subject areas including organic chemistry, analytical chemistry, physical chemistry, process development, and/or engineering Experience in pre-clinical / clinical formulation development and physicochemical characterization and drug delivery of proteins Advanced data analysis and visualization skills