Lycia Therapeutics, Inc. is a biotechnology company leveraging its lysosomal targeting chimera (LYTAC) platform from Founder and Chemistry Nobel Laureate 2022, Carolyn Bertozzi, to discover and develop first-in-class therapeutics that degrade extracellular and membrane-bound proteins. Lycia’s next generation degraders harness the cell’s endogenous lysosomal trafficking and degradation machinery with the potential to degrade targets previously considered to be intractable, across a spectrum of indications. After raising $105 million in capital in 2021, Lycia is advancing an internal pipeline of novel degraders and has entered a strategic collaboration with Eli Lilly to address key unmet medical needs. In May 2024, Lycia Therapeutics completed a $106.6 million series C financing to advance its pipeline of LYTAC extracellular protein degraders to the clinic. Lycia is headquartered in South San Francisco. Visit https://lyciatx.com/ for more information. The Role: The Expression team at Lycia Therapeutics is looking for a Scientist with biologics expertise in protein and antibody engineering for the preclinical discovery and development of therapeutic candidates. Key Responsibilities:

Conceive, design, and execute on the engineering of innovative, bispecific and multispecific antibodies with improved function, selectivity, and developability
Execute on weekly protein and antibody expressions to support the discovery and development efforts for all ongoing research programs
Contribute to assessing the protein structure and function of our antibody-based therapeutics by evaluating the underlying designs and engineering
Work closely with other internal and external groups to advance our company goals
Present your findings and ideas to an interdisciplinary team with a wide range of technical backgrounds
Assist in evaluating new technologies to stay at the cutting edge of biologics discovery, production, and characterization

Requirements:

PhD (or equivalent industry experience) in protein engineering, plus 0 to 5 years experience in biotech / pharma
PhD candidates with project leadership experience with an understanding of biologics drug discovery and development processes are highly preferred and will be prioritized
Experience with therapeutic antibody formatting, Fc engineering, or with protein designing is absolutely required
Understanding various antibody formats and scaffolds including (but not limited to) fusion proteins, bispecific antibodies, and single-domain antibodies (HCAb and vHH) is required
Understanding of biologics workflows for the discovery and development of protein therapeutics — including antibody discovery, protein expression/purification, protein characterization and developability assessment — is required
Experience in molecular biology and antibody engineering (including construct design and optimizing expression) for various bispecific antibody formats is required
Experience in cloning (including but not limited to Gibson assembly) is required; experience with plasmid constructions using SnapGene software is crucial
Extensive experience in mammalian cell culture (routinely transfecting at 200 mL to 2 L scale) and with protein expression systems (Expi293 and ExpiCHO) is absolutely required
Experience in engineering antibodies for improved properties (affinity, solubility, and other attributes related to developability) is useful
Experience using structural and sequence analysis software to guide the design of proteins and the construction of expression plasmids including Pymol, Discovery Studio, IgBlast, abYsis, and Geneious is useful
Strong motivation, attention to detail, and the ability to think independently and to integrate into a high-achieving team environment are essential
Strong written and verbal communication skills and effective presentation of complex scientific data to cross-functional and senior management
Track record of strong problem solving and organizational skills

We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status The expected base salary range for this role is $115,000 - $130,000k for a Scientist I. We encourage candidates of all levels to apply as there is often flexibility on job title and responsibilities. Compensation will be based on a variety of factors, including experience, qualifications and internal equity. Lycia offers a competitive employment package that includes an annual bonus, equity, and a generous benefits package.

Lycia Therapeutics jobs

Scientist I, Antibody Design