JOB DESCRIPTION
Role: 2 Positions Scientist/ Senior Scientist Phage Selections
Location: Stevenage
Reports to: Chief Scientific Officer
Duration: Permanent
Hours:
Full Time
General Purpose and Scope
Avacta Life Sciences are developing Affimers as an antibody mimetic platform. Affimers are a novel
protein scaffold based on the human protease inhibitor Stefin A. We aim to establish Affimers as a
therapeutic scaffold to support the growing demand for the next generation of biotherapeutics that
will be superior to the current market leader, monoclonal antibodies. We have recently raised £22M
for the therapeutic development of Affimers and signed a significant deal with Moderna Therapeutics.
We are currently based at the Stevenage Biosciences Catalyst and are actively looking to expand the
team to support the development of our own proprietary Affimer based product pipeline focussing on
oncology and inflammatory diseases.
We require a highly motivated screening scientist who will design and carry out phage display
experiments in order to identify Affimer candidates that bind to a target protein. The candidate will
have had previous experience of screening phage libraries and characterising the output of protein
scaffold or antibody fragment technologies for therapeutic applications. Your role will be to screen,
express, purify and characterise lead molecules from the Affimer phage libraries for a range of
therapeutic targets.
Main Duties and Responsibilities
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Generate high quality recombinant protein targets from a range of expression systems
Modifying the target protein using NHS- or MAL-biotin and fully characterising the product for
functional activity
Generate and design random and/or rationally designed DNA display libraries for both naïve and
affinity maturation
Execute repeated rounds of phage display panning against the generated protein targets.
Characterize phage derived Affimer candidates hits via SPR (Biacore or similar platform), ELISA
and cell based assays
Sequence phage candidates via next generation DNA sequencing and interpreting the data
Sub-clone candidate Affimers into the appropriated protein expression system for lab scale
production and HIS-tag purification
Formatting lead Affimers with serum half-life extension technologies (e.g. as a Fc-fusion) and
characterising the molecules for functional activity
Keep up to date on latest phage display and related technologies
Present work/data to clients and writing scientific reports
Maintaining a current and accurate laboratory record (lab notebook) of all activities
This job description is not exhaustive and you may be required to undertake other duties that are in
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JOB DESCRIPTION
line with the above responsibilities.
Essential skills and previous experience
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A BSc/PhD in molecular biology or protein biochemistry
A minimum of 2-4 years’ laboratory experience of screening and engineering therapeutic protein
scaffolds or antibodies fragment technologies using display technologies.
A high level of lab based competency in molecular biology, manipulating DNA and creating
expression constructs.
Experience of various phage display selection strategies (e.g. passive immobilisation, bead
capture etc.)
A track record of characterising the output of phage screens using target binding assays (e.g.
RBA, ELISA, cell based assays, Biacore etc)
Extensive experience of recombinant protein expression systems ( E. coli, yeast and mammalian),
protein purification and characterisation (SDS-PAGE, Western blot etc)
Experience with mammalian cell culture, maintaining and culturing cells.
Motivated self-starter who can work independently and collaboratively in a dynamic team
environment with a conscientious attitude and enthusiasm
Excellent written and verbal communication skills
Strong analytical and critical thinking skills with the ability to interpret complex data
Organised with an ability to work well under pressure and to challenging timelines
Benefits
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Pension Scheme: up to 5% matching contributions
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Eye Care Scheme
Childcare Voucher Scheme
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Performance Related Share Option Scheme
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25 days holiday in addition to bank holidays
To apply for this position please forward your CV with a covering letter to HR@avacta.com
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