Medicinal Chemist

Scismic is supporting the growth of a seed stage small molecule therapeutics company in South San Francisco, CA!

The company already has in vitro validation data and two positive in vivo animal studies, one in an Alzheimer’s Disease and one in an ALS mouse model. Their compounds have druggable properties such as high blood brain penetrance, low plasma protein binding, high microsomal stability and no off target hits on Eurofins panels. Their Preclinical Team has developed a suite of proprietary screening assays for our targets.

This is an incredibly exciting time to join the team. You will have a major impact on accelerating our integrated biology-chemistry-computational chemistry-machine learning compound design platform to expand our chemical structure/small molecule discovery pipeline that will be tested in vitro and in vivo with the goal of advancing them to clinical trials.

About the role

We are seeking an experienced and highly motivated Medicinal Chemistry Lead. You will be our founding, and sole internal FTE chemist, and thus will be an individual contributor and also leader of the company’s chemistry efforts. You will collaboratively co-design chemical structures with our computational chemists and data scientists; sometimes, you will provide feedback on how to improve a structure designed by a machine learning algorithm, and sometimes, you will receive feedback from a machine learning algorithm on the predicted potency of your new structure designs. You will collaborate closely with our external synthesis CROs and ADME/DMPK consultants to ensure swift progression towards development candidates while maintaining a high level of scientific rigor and avoiding blindspots. You will also work closely with our in-house biology team that develops assays and screens the compounds you will design.

The ideal candidate has a track record of integration into interdisciplinary teams, in particular teams that blend traditional drug design with computational approaches. You will have a track record of smart, strategic compound design leading to desirable druggable properties, effective scientific decision making, and organizational effectiveness to advance small molecule drug discovery campaigns from screening to development candidates.

You will also have demonstrated the ability to thrive in an entrepreneurial, fast-paced, innovative environment, ideally a small startup, while effectively coordinating multiple distributed resources. You will have excellent written and oral communication skills as well as the desire and ability to excel in a multidisciplinary environment across multiple project teams.

Responsibilities

• Implement and execute synthetic and medicinal chemistry strategies as the company’s founding and sole internal FTE chemist
• Integrate chemistry in-house Biology, Computational Chemistry and Machine Learning/Data Science teams
• Provide feedback and suggestions to improved druggable properties of compounds designed by computational chemistry and machine learning algorithms
• Incorporate feedback and suggestions from computational chemistry and machine learning algorithms on their own compound designs
• Establish strategies to leverage external resource and capabilities
• Effectively plan resource allocation to achieve team goals
• Provide scientific and strategic leadership in an outsourced Medicinal Chemistry environment
• Collaborate and contribute to multidisciplinary drug discovery project teams
• Provide timely and well-organized reports to project teams
• Collaborate effectively with the leadership team and other departments and functions

Qualifications

• Doctoral degree (PhD) or equivalent in synthetic organic chemistry or medicinal chemistry
• 5 years of experience in the biotech and/or pharmaceutical industry, with a strong track record of scientific innovation and success in delivering clinical candidates
• Experience and embrace of software tools to provide additional insights for compound design, such as Simulations Plus ADMET predictor
• Demonstrated successful integration into cross-disciplinary teams that include computational chemists and/or data scientists
• Demonstrated ability to maximize the value and effectiveness of CRO collaborations, such as a remote synthesis team
• In-depth knowledge of the drug R&D process with expertise in the application of ADME/PK and pharmacology data to optimize drug candidates
• A leader with effective organizational, interpersonal, communication and managerial skills who can motivate and inspire others
• Demonstrated technical proficiency, scientific creativity, independent thought, and ability to effectively collaborate with others

Job Type: Full-time

Pay: $160,000.00 - $215,000.00 per year

Schedule:

• Monday to Friday

Work Location: In person

Salary : $160,000 - $215,000