Head of Biologics - Edinburgh, United Kingdom - Cumulus Oncology

Description

Cumulus Oncology is focused on the creation of a portfolio of oncology companies, striving to address areas of high unmet medical need and building value for our investors.

Our mission is to identify exciting opportunities/novel assets at various stages of development, that can be accelerated towards the clinic, or advancing clinical stage assets.

The company has an exceptional team, with a wealth of expertise in the oncology sector.

With one spin-out company established, a second close to launch and with ambitious plans to create more, we are looking to expand the team to accelerate growth.

This exciting new role requires the provision of biologics expertise to drive forward a new company concept and will cover a wide range of activities.

Key Responsibilities

• Contribute to the identification and evaluation of targets of interest and potential new assets, taking a lead in discussions with academic groups/asset holders to further understand the opportunity.
• Design and coordinate experiments with partners (collaborators and CROs) to enhance the understanding of the biology of selected targets and commissioning target validation.
• Working with partners to identify sources of antigens for experimental work and generation of mAbs, ensuring that the targets are in the correct conformation and of high quality.
• Critically analyse and interpret data from across a range of methods and provide recommendations for follow on experiments to ensure timely project progress and milestones are achieved.
• Oversee the generation, engineering and cell-line development for mAbs as well as identification and selection of CDMO and where appropriate oversee the transfer of manufacture to a GMP facility
• Develop time-efficient and cost-effective programs of work for the assets to IND-ready stage and drive progress to go/no go decisions and/or value inflection points within the agreed budget.
• Identify, evaluate, and select non-clinical study providers and commission and oversee proof-of-principle and IND-enabling studies.
• Produce a rolling forecast of the quantity of mAbs needed to meet the requirements of the planned non-clinical and quality (assay development, stability etc) work and manage delivery.
• Produce project and programme status report to support the contractor's choice and the discussion with the board of directors.
• Monitor the literature and competitor activity and flag any new information that could impact the programs and/or risks to the senior leadership team.
• Attend biologics focused or biopartnering conferences to identify new target or innovative technologies that could be interesting for the company, as well as to present new data.
• Create, organise, chair and lead the scientific advisory board meeting for the Biologics Newco.

Ideal Requirements
1. 8yrs+ experience in biologics development in the field of oncology

• Experience of leading projects for mAbs development from target identification to IND-enabling studies and working with external providers to deliver against the agreed project plan
• Ability to understand the biology around novel targets as well as designing experiments to test scientific hypotheses
• Track record of scientific excellence as evidenced by publications, presentations at conferences and/or the establishment of international collaborations
• Knowledge gained from experience within the biopharma industry of the process development and manufacture of mAbs and the regulatory requirements for both non-clinical and clinical testing for oncology
• Able to work remotely within an interdisciplinary environment with multiple inputs across different scientific and business areas with a 'can-do' approach to problem solving
• Strong interpersonal communication skills and effective team working with the ability to clearly present scientific data to a variety of audiences/stakeholders
• Proactive personality with the ability to drive progress with minimum guidance
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills and ability to use standard software packages including Excel, PowerPoint, and Word
• Excellent interpersonal and organisational skills and a strong attention to detail
• Thrives on working in a team environment with a close-knit group of professionals united by a common mission

If you are interested in the role, we would love to hear from you.

Job Type:
Full time


Salary:
Dependent on experience


Salary:
£65,000.00-£120,000.00 per year


Benefits:

• Work from home

Schedule:

• Monday to Friday

Experience:

- biologics development in the field of oncology: 8 years (required)

Work Location:
Hybrid remote in Edinburgh, EH2 3BU