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Scientist I, Antibody Technology

Palo Alto, CA (US)

About Summit:

Summit Therapeutics Inc. is a biopharmaceutical oncology company with a mission focused on improving quality of life, increasing potential duration of life, and resolving serious unmet medical needs. At Summit, we believe in building a team of world class professionals who are passionate about this mission, and it is our people who drive this mission to reality. Summit’s core values include integrity, passion for excellence, purposeful urgency, collaboration, and our commitment to people. Our employees are truly the heart and soul of our culture, and they are invaluable in shaping our journey toward excellence.

Summit’s team is inspired to touch and help change lives through Summit’s clinical studies in the field of oncology. Summit has multiple global Phase 3 clinical studies, including:

Non-small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC)

  • HARMONi: Phase 3 clinical study which was intended to evaluate ivonescimab combined with chemotherapy compared to placebo plus chemotherapy in patients with EGFR-mutated, locally advanced or metastatic non-squamous NSCLC who were previously treated with a 3rd generation EGFR TKI.

  • HARMONi-3: Phase 3 clinical study which is intended to evaluate ivonescimab combined with chemotherapy compared to pembrolizumab combined with chemotherapy in patients with first-line metastatic NSCLC.

  • HARMONi-7: Phase 3 clinical study which is intended to evaluate ivonescimab monotherapy compared to pembrolizumab monotherapy in patients with first-line metastatic NSCLC.

Colorectal Cancer (CRC)

  • HARMONi-GI3: Phase 3 clinical study intended to evaluate ivonescimab in combination with chemotherapy compared with bevacizumab plus chemotherapy.

Ivonescimab is an investigational therapy not presently approved by any regulatory authority other than China’s National Medical Products Administration (NMPA). Summit is headquartered in Miami, Florida, and has additional offices in California, New Jersey, the UK, and Ireland.

 

Overview of Role:

We are seeking a hands-on, detail-oriented Scientist with a strong background in Protein Science and Antibody Engineering to join the Department of Protein Engineering at Summit Therapeutics. The successful candidate will drive our antibody discovery campaigns by conducting the end-to-end process of engineering, generating, purifying, and characterizing high-quality therapeutic candidates. You will work at the intersection of engineering and biology to help build our next-generation pipeline.

Role and Responsibilities:

  • Carry out end-to-end antibody engineering campaigns by leveraging extensive hands-on expertise in protein expression, purification, engineering, characterization, and a deep foundational understanding of biochemistry and molecular biology
  • Execute complex experiments with a high degree of precision; be detail-oriented, responsible for rigorous data analysis, proactive troubleshooting, and communicating key findings during lab meetings to drive project milestones
  • Generating high quality antigens and antibodies for protein engineering campaigns in various host cells, with focus on the HEK and CHO cell systems
  • Assist in designing antibody expression constructs and generating antibody libraries using molecular biology techniques such as RT-PCR, gene cloning, transformation, etc
  • Utilize FACS sorting and NGS to analyze libraries and screen for top-tier lead candidates for binder affinity maturation and developability optimization
  • Perform the purification of antibodies and recombinant proteins using AKTA FPLC and manual methods, ensuring quality through mass spectrometry and HPLC, etc
  • Work with CRO or execute rigorous testing in house of purified proteins using SEC, SDS-PAGE, Western blot, SPR, BLI, antibody epitope binning, etc.
  • Work closely with other scientists and cross-functional teams for project development.
  • All other duties as assigned

Experience, Education and Specialized Knowledge and Skills:

  • Master’s in Biochemistry or related with 6+ years’ relevant experience is required. A Ph.D’s degree within 3+ years’ subject matter expertise are preferred.
  • Recombinant protein and antibody production in mammalian or insect cells, experience on protein purification system (such as AKTA) and protein characterization (SPR/BLI, functional validation).
  • Good understanding of antibody and other modality format, such as VHH.
  • Experience with cell-based compound characterization, display technologies, library generation and screening, Flow cytometry, and NGS.
  • Experience with the application of computational tools in protein engineering is a plus.
  • Experience with therapeutic drug development is a plus.
  • Familiar with industrial working standards, including LIMS.
  • Demonstrates excellent verbal and written communication skills.
  • Good working attitude in a fast-growing organization.

 

This is the pay for this position

Pay Transparency

$117,000 - $137,000 USD

 

Actual compensation packages are based on several factors that are unique to each candidate, including but not limited to skill set, depth of experience, certifications, and specific work location. This may be different in other locations due to differences in the cost of labor. The total compensation package for this position may also include bonus, stock, benefits and/or other applicable variable compensation.

Summit does not accept referrals from employment businesses and/or employment agencies in respect of the vacancies posted on this site. All employment businesses/agencies are required to contact Summit’s Talent Acquisition team at recruiting@smmttx.com to obtain prior written authorization before referring any candidates to Summit.

Summit Therapeutics Inc. is an Equal Opportunity Employer and takes pride in creating and maintaining diverse environment. We do not discriminate in recruitment, hiring, training or promotion or any other employment practices for reasons of race, color, religion, gender, national origin, age, sexual orientation, marital or veteran status, disability, or any other legally protected status.

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