Associate Scientist I, Immunoassay

Job Description

Job Description

Company Profile :

Vaxcyte, Inc. (Nasdaq : PCVX) is a next-generation vaccine company seeking to improve global health by developing superior and novel vaccines designed to prevent some of the most common and deadly infectious diseases worldwide.

Our exclusively licensed cell-free protein synthesis platform and our proprietary know how enable us to design and produce optimized protein carriers and antigens, the critical building blocks of vaccines, in ways that we believe conventional vaccine technologies cannot.

Our pipeline includes pneumococcal conjugate vaccine, or PCV, candidates that we believe are the most broad-spectrum PCV candidates currently in development, targeting the $7 billion global pneumococcal vaccine market.

Our lead vaccine candidate, VAX-24, is a preclinical, 24-valent broad-spectrum pneumococcal conjugate PCV with preclinical proof-of-concept demonstrating potential to replace the standard of care that we expect to advance into clinical trials in the second half of 2021.

Our pipeline also includes VAX-XP, a PCV with an expanded breadth of strain coverage, including newly emerging strains responsible for invasive pneumococcal disease and antibiotic resistance ;

VAX-A1, a prophylactic vaccine candidate designed to prevent Group A Strep infections; and VAX-PG, a therapeutic vaccine candidate designed to slow or stop the progression of periodontal disease by targeting the keystone pathogen responsible for this chronic, oral inflammatory disease.

We completed our initial public offering in June 2020, raising $287.5 million in gross proceeds.

Summary :

Vaxcyte is looking for an energetic and talented individual to join our Immunoassay team. The primary responsibility for the incumbent will be to support the developmental activities currently on going in the laboratory through the management and undertaking of key stability indicating assays, primarily the bioassay which supports both product dose and the key stability indicating endpoint.

This assay uses MSD as the analytical measurement tool and it will be used to assess both drug substance (DS) and drug product (DP) concentration and stability.

The final product is an adjuvanted vaccine, with the antigens of interest being bound to solid aluminum particles. Part of the complexity of this assay is the development of the system to effectively remove the antigens from this surface prior to analysis.

Matrix effects and stability of the product throughout this process will also need to be assessed. There are numerous serotypes of this antigen within the drug product, so this multi-valency requires a separate assay to be developed and optimized for each serotype.

Ultimately, all assays for the DS and DP analysis will need to be pre-validated prior to transfer to a CMO. Assistance in developing further MSD / ELISA based immunoassays for phase 3 and research pipeline programs will also be required, and this position will play a significant role in both.

This is arguably one of the most complex Drug Products being developed to date in the pharmaceutical arena, due to the number of antigens and the adjuvanted system, so it is an incredible opportunity for the right candidate to make a hugely significant mark on the product and the company.

This position is for a scientific role which will be a mainly lab based, but will require good scientific judgement to appropriately design and execute the required experimentation.

The candidate needs have a significant level of independence, scientific judgement and rigor.

Requirements :

BSc or MSc in Chemistry or Analytical Chemistry preferred, Organic / Biochemistry considered, with >

3 year of industrial experience; or PhD with >

1 years

• The ideal candidate will have had extensive monoclonal based immunoassay experience, in both the development, optimization and pre- validation / validation of said assay(s) .
• Of notable interest are candidates with prior MSD / ELISA experience.
• Of notable interest are candidates with prior vaccine experience where the system contained aluminium or other adjuvants.
• Experience in developing suitably robust immunoassay methods and execute transfers to external CMOs would be preferable
• Experience in chemical / biological / immunological assays such as HPLC / UV and other spectrometric methodologies / Western blots, BCA etc are welcomed.
• Experience working within teams to support stability studies, including sample co-ordination and timely data output.
• Attention to detail and excellent skills in record keeping / documentation. Critical thinking and ability to analyse data
• Strong interpersonal skills; ability to communicate effectively both verbally and in written formats
• Ability to work under supervision in a fast-paced, cross-functional environment and collaborate effectively with other team members.

Eagerness and ability to learn and understand new concepts with ease.

Location : Foster City, CA Compensation : The compensation package will be competitive and includes comprehensive benefits and an equity component.