SENIOR SCIENTIST – ANTIBODY AND PEPTIDE LIBRARY TECHNOLOGIES (BIOLOGY GROUP)

About us

Philogen is a Swiss-Italian integrated biotechnology company founded in 1996, dedicated to developing innovative biopharmaceuticals for cancer therapy (http://www.philogen.com). Philochem AG is the discovery R&D center of the Philogen Group located in Otelfingen (Zurich, Switzerland). Promising preclinical candidates developed at Philochem are subsequently produced at Philogen’s authorized Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) facilities in Siena (Italy). The Company currently sponsors and coordinates Phase I, II and III prospective clinical trials in Europe and in the United States. Despite the focus on cancer research, the company is also active in discovering innovative therapies for inflammatory conditions.

Philochem operates with four key departments:

• Biology: Discovery of innovative therapeutic proteins.
• Cell Line Development: Development of GMP-ready mammalian cell lines expressing therapeutic proteins.
• Chemistry: Creating diagnostic and therapeutic targeted small organic molecules.
• Mass Spectrometry: Bridging Biology and Chemistry to support the advancement of preclinical and clinical products.

Your Role

We are seeking an experienced and motivated Senior Scientist to join our Biology team. In this role, you will mainly focus on designing, building and screening antibody and peptide libraries to isolate new binders against targets of pharmaceutical interest. In collaboration with other research groups, you will be involved in the design, cloning, production, purification and testing of novel antibody-based therapeutics using both standard and advanced biomolecular techniques. This project may also foresee collaborations with prominent Universities or partnered Pharmaceutical companies.

Key Responsibilities

• Design and construct diverse antibody and peptide libraries (e.g., Phage display and other display methodologies)
• Develop and optimise selection/screening strategies to identify high-affinity binders
• Characterise hits using biochemical and biophysical assays (e.g., ELISA and SPR)
• Analyse sequencing data to assess library diversity and enrichment
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams for downstream validation and lead optimisation
• Utilize a variety of molecular biology, protein expression, and purification techniques to advance therapeutic prototypes.
• Support patenting, GMP manufacturing, and clinical development activities of antibody-based therapeutic prototypes

Who We Are Looking For

Required Experience:

• Strong industrial experience (2+ years) in protein engineering and display technologies (e.g., phage display)
• Strong knowledge of immunology and antibody-based therapeutics.
• Experience with Encoded Library Technologies, such as Antibody and/or Peptide Phage Display, Mammalian Display, Yeast display, and/or Ribosome Display.
• Expertise in molecular biology techniques (e.g., primer design, cloning, PCR, vector design).
• Experience with protein expression and purification (both prokaryotic and eukaryotic systems).
• Proficiency in analytical protein biochemistry (e.g., SDS-PAGE, Size Exclusion Chromatography, Flow Cytometry, Surface Plasmon Resonance).
• Strong scientific writing and PowerPoint presentation skills.

Additional Experience/Skills:

• Experience with conducting in vivo experiments in rodent models is a plus.
• Excellent communication skills with the ability to convey complex technical information in an accessible manner.
• Collaborative team player with a curiosity-driven approach to research.
• Fluency in English (both oral and written).

Why Philogen?

As a Senior Scientist at Philochem you will:

• Work on groundbreaking projects in antibody therapeutics.
• Collaborate with leading experts in academia and industry.
• Gain hands-on experience with advanced molecular and protein engineering techniques.
• Strengthen expertise on preclinical research.
• Gain experience on GMP manufacturing and clinical research.

How to Apply