Associate Scientist, Molecular and Cell Biology (Phage Display-Antibody Engineering)

What We Do

Theragent is a privately-owned Contract Development and Manufacturing Organization (CDMO) focused on novel Cell and Gene Therapy medicines to meet unmet patient needs. We are a small, biotech startup headquartered in Arcadia, CA. Our state of the art facility provide high-quality, reliable, and value-added solutions to our clientele for challenging pre-clinical and clinical trial projects. Our innovative cGMP facility offers comprehensive end-to-end manufacturing and testing capabilities for clinical and commercial purposes.

Why Theragent?

Take the next step in your career and join Theragent today to change patient lives through the products we help develop and manufacture. Here, you will contribute your talents in a purposeful way that impact the lives of patients around the world. You will develop as an individual by working directly with a team of seasoned experts and rising stars. Our values of Innovation, Transparency, Accountability, Integrity, Diversity, Humility to name a few are embedded in everything we do. No matter your role may be, Theragent strives to ensure all our teammates are empowered and given the necessary tools to lead us in our relentless pursuit to extending patient lives.

Our Mission:

To Manufacture and Deliver high-quality, reliable, and value-added Therapeutic Solutions for Biopharma clients and patients.

Job Summary: Theragent is looking for an enthusiastic Researcher with either academic or industry experience to assist with genetic engineering of lentiviral vectors expressing antibodies and CAR and in vitro assays. The candidate will focus on the Discovery of Antibody based biologics and T/NK cell products as well as assist with planning and execution of experiments, in support of developing analytical methods for releasing and characterizing T cell therapy products. Candidates with strong expertise in phage display library construction and antibody engineering will be given preference.

The successful candidate will demonstrate a strong sense of responsibility, open communication, desire to learn new skills, ability to meticulously perform instructed tasks and maintain lab records. S/he will perform bench work to support research projects in coordination with our scientific director. We are looking for enthusiastic individuals with a flexibility to adapt to startup environment.

Job Duties:

(1) Use expertise in molecular biology to generate Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) or antibody constructs.

(2) Engineer lentiviral vectors with insertion or deletion of restriction sites, epitope tags or other genetic elements.

(3) Generate viral vectors expressing scFv or CAR variants, site directed mutants, and fusion proteins using fusion PCR and Gibson or other fragment assembly methods.

(4) Design and clone shRNA, gRNA for desired targets in CRISPR/Cas9 vectors.

(5) Design strategies to knock-in CAR in T cells

(4) Perform antibody phage display screens and validation of clones by ELISA and flow cytometry.

(5) Express/Purify antibodies and recombinant proteins in bacteria or mammalian cells.

(6) Develop biochemical, cell based and immunoassays to evaluate antibody binding affinities

(7) Optimize qPCR/ddPCR assays to characterize viral and CAR-T products.

(8) Construct phage display libraries

(9) Perform restriction analysis, ligation, transformation, colony PCR screens and gel electrophoresis.

(10) Develop generate stable cell lines with overexpression or knock out (CRISPR shRNA).

(11) Prepare plasmids in small scale and large scale, maintain plasmid and bacterial glycerol stocks.

(12) Maintain cell lines, prepare cell banks (adherent and suspension cell lines) as required.

(13) Perform cytokine ELISAs and Western blotting.

(15) Perform cell-based (proliferation, cytotoxicity, transcription factor reporter) assays in multi well formats, analyze and clearly document data.

(14) Perform experiments with minimal supervision, think critically and demonstrate troubleshooting and problem-solving skills.

(15) Self-motivated, pays attention to details, and willing to accept responsibilities outside of the initial job description

(15) Develop precise SOPs complying with GLP environment and maintain excellent records that allow systematic tracking and protocol transfer.

(16) Basic proficiency in various software (Excel, PowerPoint, Graph Pad Prism, Photoshop and Plasmid design/analysis software)

Required Experience/ Education:

• MS Degree preferably with at least 5+ years of laboratory experience or PhD with 2+ years of laboratory experience in the field of Immunology, cell biology, virology, or molecular biology.
• Experience in phage display library construction, antibody engineering, humanization or affinity maturation of antibodies are preferred.
• Strong technical skills in advanced molecular cloning and fragment assembly techniques are required
• Strong experience in cell based and biochemical assays are required - must be able to perform assays in 96 and 384 well formats with different formats without confusion.
• Experience in working with multiple cell lines (both suspension and adherent) and setting up cell-based assays.
• General lab experience in operating and maintaining basic lab equipment (centrifuge, microscope, PCR machines, nanodrop, DNA and protein electrophoresis systems).
• Hands on experience with sterile microbiology and molecular biology techniques not limited to cloning, mutagenesis, restriction digestion, ligation, transformation, colony PCR, culturing bacterial cells, plasmid preparations.
• Critical to have the ability to maintain accurate records and back track samples prepared without confusion.
• Prior experience in optimizing and trouble-shooting qPCR and ddPCR
• Communicate ideas and results clearly and effectively (both verbally and in writing) to the team members.
• Must feel comfortable in a fast-paced small company environment with minimal direction and able to adjust workload based upon changing priorities
• Ability to adapt to startup environment and make the best use of the existing resources to helping the team to move towards perfection
• Familiarity with routine lab operations and safety procedures.

Core Competencies:

• Professional Knowledge
• Problem Solving
• Team Player / Building Relationships
• Multi-tasking
• Customer Focus
• Action and detail oriented
• Active Listening
• Decisive Decision Making

Physical / Mental Demands:

• Occasional stooping, bending, stretching, pushing, pulling, reaching and/or lifting up to 40lbs.
• Ability to sit, stand, walk, and move within workspace for extended periods.
• Ability to perform repetitive tasks including hand to finger manipulations, grasping, pushing, and pulling.

Environmental Conditions:

• Primarily office environment but will be required to enter laboratory or GMP process areas donning proper gowning / lab coats or PPE such as safety glasses and shoes.
• Ability to work safely and effectively when working alone or working with others.

* This description outlines the basic responsibilities and requirements for the position noted. This is not a comprehensive listing of all job duties of position. Duties, responsibilities and activities may change at any time with or without notice.

*Theragent Inc is an equal opportunity employer and prohibits unlawful discrimination based on race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin or ancestry, age, disability, marital status, and veteran status. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment.

Theragent, Inc. requires employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19. To the extent permitted by applicable law, candidate must be able to provide proof of full vaccination or receipt of the first dose of a two-dose COVID-19 vaccine, or request an exemption due to a medical reason, a sincerely held religious belief of practice, or pregnancy, as of the first day of work, to be considered for a U.S.-based job.