JOB DESCRIPTION

Post:Director of Target Discovery

Reports to:Chief Scientific Officer

Hours:Full Time

Duration: Permanent

Location:Whittlesford / Cambridge

Salary: £65,000- £90,000dependent on experience

Benefits:Pension, Private Medical, Life Assurance and Share Options package

General Purpose and Scope

Avacta Life Sciences is developing the Affimer technology as an antibody mimetic platform to meet the growing demand for the next generation of biotherapeutics that will compete with monoclonal antibodies and other antibody mimetics in key applications. Affimer technology is a novel protein scaffold based on the human protease inhibitor Stefin A. The Company is in the preclinical phase with a number of Affimer molecules with a principal focus in immuno-oncology. Avacta has a strong IP position, has generated numerous Affimer binders with high affinity from naïve phage display and has demonstrated acceptable drug-like properties of the technology in recent pK and efficacy studies. Key benefits of the Affimer technology are its small size, ease of formatting, high expression yields (even of large multimeric structures) and stability. Avacta has a research collaboration with Moderna Therapeutics which was initiated in late 2015.

The Company raised £21M in 2015 to fund the development of a pipeline of Affimer candidates in immuno-oncology and for technology development. Avacta’s therapeutic R&D activities are based in Cambridge and there is a second site in Wetherby which focuses on the exploitation of the Affimer technology as research and diagnostic reagents.

We are seeking to add an experienced individual with in-depth knowledge of immunology and immuno-oncology to the senior team to help develop the strategy to expand the Company’s immuno-oncology development pipeline, to lead the target selection process, to identify academic groups and CROs to provide the Company with access to the relevant disease models, and to manage in-house and external preclinical programmes. The individual would ideally have a biotech/pharma background but an up-to-date and deep knowledge of immunology and immuno-oncology is of overriding importance.

Main Duties & Responsibilities

Strategy

  • Evaluate disease areas and build the case for developing a target into a potential medicine (inhibitors, agonists, ADC, T-cell recruitment, CAR-T) that will be differentiated against competitor small molecule drugs and other biologics.
  • Identify and review targets or target combinations and therapeutic modalities in the field of immuno-oncology to build a pipeline of “best in class” and “first in class” assets.
  • Work closely with the CSO and CCO to build a commercial case for assets in the pipeline.
  • Identify and liase with academics/CROs to gain access to preclinical models that would support the internal target validation of the Affimer platform.
  • Investigate alternative sources of funding (e.g. UK/European grants) to support the development of the technology platform or individual assets into Phase I/II clinical studies
  • Work closely with scientists to support our need to publish high quality papers in peer reviewed journals
  • Work closely with the Chief Medical Officer (to be appointed) to build the clinical development programmes.

Project Management

  • Play a visible leadership role in the management of cross-functional Affimer discovery and development teams
  • Manage some of the Company’s in-house preclinical programmes including review of scientific reports / data to build the pre-clinical package of data for pre-IND submission
  • Manage some of the Company’s external alliances with our biotech/pharma partners (e.g. Moderna Therapeutics). This will include reporting progress to meet agreed deliverables, timelines and budgets.
  • Manage the interaction with the Scientific Advisory Board in order to deliver maximum value to the Company.

Other

  • Maintain an up to date knowledge in the field of immunology and immuno-oncology.
  • Develops and contributes to company’s intellectual property by way of patents and/or publications.

Essential skills and previous experience:

  • A strong background in T cell immunology with a PhD in immunology, immuno-oncology or inflammatory disease.
  • A high level of experience as a researcher with a portfolio of publications in high impact peer-reviewed journals.
  • A minimum of 15 years of experience working in the immunology field with a clear understanding of the characteristics needed (drug properties, safety profiles etc.) to develop a medicine.
  • An excellent scientific knowledge of immune-check points, focusing on oncology and immuno-inflammation pathways and being up-to-date with the latest literature in these areas.
  • Some experience of cross-functional project management.
  • Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
  • Ability to prioritise and manage multiple projects and activities while meeting ambitious deadlines.
  • Ability to work independently; proactively address issues and troubleshoot problems.
  • Highly motivated; engages in and contributes to strategic planning.
  • Able to maintain excellent working relationships with colleagues and collaborators.
  • Ability to travel to meet with collaborators and present the Company’s data at conferences.
  • Able to demonstrate leadership and exercise appropriate authority.
  • Able to makes decisions within the context of the larger company goals.
  • Mentors and develops subordinates; encourages initiative and responsibility.

Ideally the successful candidate will also have:

  • Experience of working in the biotech or pharma industry with a clear understanding of the early drug development process for biologics.
  • A proven track record of taking target drug concepts through early stage validation, preclinical development and the translation to the clinic.
  • Previous experience of therapeutic program leadership, project management and line management, working across multi-disciplinary teams in matrix organisations.

SF0018 (Ver01)