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Vice President Drug Discovery

Targeted Protein Degradation

In this new and exciting position, we have an outstanding opportunity for an ambitious scientist to lead the intersection of Medicinal Chemistry and Computational Chemistry research and development efforts in a growing team at Celeris Therapeutics.

 

Celeris Therapeutics is the pioneer in AI-driven Degrader Discovery, revolutionizing the next generation of scientific developments focusing on degrader technologies.

 

We are a VC-backed startup with top-tier investors on board and operate at the intersection of biopharma and technology.

 

Full-time

Office and wet lab in the city of Graz

f/m/x

Your Profile

We are seeking a highly motivated Vice President (VP) of Drug Discovery.

This role is responsible for driving Celeris Therapeutics pipeline programs across from hit identification to IND.

This individual will collaborate with cross-functional teams and will directly coordinate the Chemistry departments (Medicinal and Computational), recruit and train a nimble team and build a robust pipeline of preclinical programs and candidates.

The successful candidate will have a proven track record of advancing oncology programs from early stages of target selection to IND filings.

 

Your Role

  • Lead the early stage drug discovery phases to successfully bring programs from target selection through to lead optimization.
  • Guide technological implementations and innovations in computational chemistry and machine learning.
  • Be a key leader in prioritization of programs targeting a variety of cancer targets. Risk mitigation, operational excellence (time, expenses), as well as strategic planning.
  • Establish roadmap for building internal capabilities and infrastructure (chemistry laboratory) leveraging both internal expertise and external resources.
  • Drive internal and external execution of research programs in hit ID, H2L and lead optimization, including leveraging CROs for medicinal chemistry and synthetic chemistry next to in-house synthesis efforts.
  • Hands-on, proactive participation in our drug discovery efforts.
  • Deliver and present key data packages and data-driven scientific updates to the organization that impact pipeline milestones and corporate objectives.
  • Lead the expansion of the Medicinal Chemistry and Computational Chemistry teams, recruiting key talent and managing, developing, and mentoring team members as they continue their growth as an agile organization.
  • Coordinate and drive the drafting and filing of IP derived from compound design efforts.

Requirements

  • Ph.D. with a strong medicinal chemistry background and a minimum of 15 years of discovery research experience in pharma/biotech industry and 8 years of specific leadership in medicinal chemistry and/or computational chemistry.
  • Deep domain expertise in oncology with an established track record of advancing programs to IND; intimately familiar with competitive landscape in targeted protein degradation as well as latest scientific advances in the bRo5 space.
  • Hands-on, proven scientific excellence in drug discovery and design, particularly hit ID hit-to-lead.
  • Excellent oral, written, and strategic thinking skills with demonstrated ability to successfully lead the ideation and development of a plan and move to action.
  • Proven track record as a speaker in conferences.
  • Ability to navigate, problem-solve, execute, and lead in a dynamic, fast-paced and evolving environment.
  • Ability to provide leadership act as a role modeling for members of the team and other parts of the organization while also rolling up the sleeves to drive on the ground execution.

Plus if experienced in setting-up synthesis laboratories.

    We offer a highly competitive compensation and the opportunity to bring new drugs to market. Location: Graz/Austria.

     

    Interested applicants send their CV to jobs@celeristx.com

    Contact and further information:

    DI Christopher Trummer, MSc., Tel.: +43 660 3837648

    Celeris Therapeutics, Inc.

    585 Glenwood Ave
    Menlo Park, CA 94025
    USA
    EIN: 
    30-1282444

     

    Celeris Therapeutics GmbH

    R&D Excellence Center

    Schmiedlstraße 3
    8042 Graz, Austria

    Company register: FN 550442z

    UID: ATU76712158

     

    Dry Lab and Business
    3 Waterhouse Sq
    EC1N 2SW
    Greater London, England

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    Dr. Mark Whittaker

    Mark Whittaker is a passionate and experienced researcher in drug discovery. He has a D.Phil. in chemistry from the University of York and undertook postdoctoral studies in Toronto and Oxford. He has worked for Evotec, a leading biotechnology company, for over 20 years, where he initially held the position of Director of Drug Discovery, leading integrated drug discovery collaborations within the CRO business. He moved in 2013 to the internal research business segment, where he held positions of SVP Head of Oncology and, latterly, SVP Head of Protein Homeostasis. During his time at Evotec, he was involved in several projects that aimed to develop novel drugs in various therapeutic areas, including oncology, diabetes, and neuroscience. Prior to joining Evotec, Mark spent 13 years at British Biotech, initially as a Group Leader in Medicinal Chemistry and subsequently, he became Head of Medicinal Chemistry and finally Director of Chemistry.

    Dr. Chris Tame

    Chris is a distinguished scientist in the field of drug discovery and development, renowned for his expertise in this area. He brings a wealth of experience across all preclinical phases, coupled with a diverse skill set encompassing AI and targeted protein degradation. Dr. Tame has held several key positions in the industry, including Head of Early Discovery Chemistry and Target Evaluation at Benevolent AI, and Protein Degradation Research Leader at GSK (in collaboration with Craig Crews’ group). His contributions to these organizations have been invaluable, and he continues to make significant strides in the field of drug discovery.

    Dr. James Field

    Dr. James Field is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of LabGenius, a London-based biotech company that leverages the combined power of synthetic biology, robotic automation, and machine learning. This combination of technologies is used to develop a smart platform capable of intelligently developing therapeutic antibodies.

    For decades, scientists, engineers, and technologists have dreamt of building ‘robot scientists’ capable of autonomously discovering new knowledge, technologies, and sophisticated real-world products.

    For Dr. Field, this represents the most exciting opportunity of our generation, and he founded LabGenius with the dream of making this a reality.

    In 2017, James was awarded the BBSRC Innovator of the Year award for early career impact. In 2018, he was featured on Forbes’ 30 Under 30 list for Science and Healthcare. He is also a fellow of the prestigious Synthetic Biology Leadership Excellence Accelerator Program (LEAP).

    In addition to his company responsibilities, James is a recognized thought leader in his field. He has spoken at global events such as the Milken Global Conference, TEDMED, RAAIS and CogX, and works with The Ditchley Foundation to brief key policymakers in government on AI-enabled drug discovery.

    Dr. Ronjon Nag

    Ronjon Nag is a British-American inventor and entrepreneur specializing in the field of mobile technology. He co-founded the technology company Lexicus, which was acquired by Motorola in 1993. His later co-founded company Cellmania was acquired by Research in Motion in 2010. He later served as vice president at both Motorola and BlackBerry.

    Ronjon is the founder and president of R42, a U.S. VC group. He was one of the early investors in Healx and Oxford Drug Design.

    Petr Šrámek

    Petr Sramek has been a serial entrepreneur in DeepTech for more than 30 years. Petr builds science, funding, and business infrastructure to support the faster adoption of technologies to improve health. Petr was Entrepreneur in Residence at Singularity University, Co-Founder of the Artificial Intelligence Platform at the Confederation of Industry, and Senator for the Czech Republic in the World Business Angels Investment Forum (WBAF).

    Petr is also the founder of the AI Awards project. Petr was listed in the group of 28 AI leaders in the World Intellectual Property Organization’s flagship study alongside Nick Bostrom, Frank Chen, Martin Ford, Kai-Fu Lee, Andrew Ng, Ben Lorica, and others.

    Petr is Co-Founder, Chairman of the Board, and Managing Partner of Longevitytech.fund, a Czech VC.

    DI Christopher Trummer

    Christopher Trummer is CEO and Co-Founder of Celeris Therapeutics.

    He is an accomplished biotech executive with expertise in bridging the fields of engineering and biotechnology, driving development processes and forging technology partnerships. As a board member of BIOTECH AUSTRIA, the biotechnology association in Austria, he contributes to shaping the industry landscape.

    Christopher is regularly invited to share his insights at drug development conferences, particularly focusing on the intersection of artificial intelligence and pharmaceuticals. Additionally, he has co-authored peer-reviewed publications across various journals.

    Christopher holds a degree in molecular biology and biotechnology with honors from TU Graz and KFU Graz. Besides, he completed his Master’s degree in information systems at IU in Bad Honnef.

    Dr. Peter Ho

    Peter received his B.A. in biology from The Johns Hopkins University and his M.D. and Ph.D. (pharmacology) degrees from Yale University, then completed a pediatrics residency at The Children’s Hospital of Boston followed by clinical fellowships in pediatric hematology/oncology at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and in clinical oncology and regulatory sciences jointly through the U.S. FDA and the NCI.

    He began his career in drug discovery and development at the Investigational Drug Branch of the Cancer Therapy Evaluation Program, NCI followed by positions of increasing responsibility at Novartis and DuPont Pharmaceuticals. He subsequently served as Senior VP of the Oncology Center of Excellence in Drug Discovery at GlaxoSmithKline and VP of Oncology Clinical Development at Johnson and Johnson.  In 2010, he co-founded BeiGene Ltd. and served as President. Most recently, he served as Chief Medical Officer at Epizyme Inc. and then at Boston Pharmaceuticals both of which are based in Cambridge, MA.  Over his career, he has been directly responsible for the first-time-in-human dosing of 19 anticancer agents and has overseen the development of over 60 hematology and oncology compounds in all phases of clinical trials.  His work has contributed to eleven NCE or biologics approvals to date:  Gleevec®; Arranon®; Tykerb®; Promacta®; Votrient®; Synribo®; Tafinlar®; Mekinist®; Sylvant®; and Rydap®, and Tazverik®.

    Karel Kubias

    Karel Kubias is an experienced leader in Life Sciences, chemical, and pharmaceutical businesses with more than 25 years of experience.

    Karel studied chemistry at TH Merseburg, Germany, and holds an MBA from Auburn University.

    He worked for five years as the CEO of Merck spol. s.r.o., Czech Republic, before becoming the Regional Head Eastern Europe, Middle East & Africa at Merck Millipore, division of Merck KGaA Darmstadt, for another five years.
    Karel, Partner in the i&i Biotech Fund, joins the Board of Directors at Celeris Therapeutics.

    Jakob Hohenberger

    Jakob has co-founded several tech companies over the past few years, covering a wide variety of areas from marketing, to sales, business management, and product development.
    While he was active in various markets, high technology was always the common denominator, including artificial intelligence and natural language processing.
    Before co-founding Celeris Therapeutics, he was Head of Sales of an international venture building company in Switzerland.

    Jakob is responsible for finance, operations, investments, marketing, and sales.

    Assoc.-Prof. Dr. Johannes Kirchmair

    Johannes Kirchmair is Associate Professor of cheminformatics at the Institute of Pharmaceutical Chemistry at the University of Vienna and Head of the Computational Drug Discovery and Design Group (COMP3D).
    He is also a group leader at the Center for Bioinformatics (ZBH) at the University of Hamburg. After receiving his Ph.D. from the University of Innsbruck (2007), Johannes started his career as an application scientist at Inte:Ligand GmbH (Vienna) and as a university assistant at his alma mater. In 2010, he moved to BASF SE (Ludwigshafen) as a postdoctoral fellow. He then worked as a research associate at the University of Cambridge (2010-2013) and ETH Zurich (2013-2014). Johannes held an assistant professorship in applied bioinformatics at the University of Hamburg (2014 to 2018) and an associate professorship in bioinformatics at the University of Bergen (2018 to 2019).
    He has been a visiting professor at the National Institute of Warangal (2016), at the University of Cagliari (2017), and the University of Vienna (2018). His main research interests include the development and application of computational methods to predict the biological activities, metabolic activities, and toxicity of small molecules (including natural products) in the context of drug discovery.

    Prof. Dr. Ola Spjuth

    Ola Spjuth is a professor at Uppsala University focusing on mathematical and statistical modeling, informatics, and quantitative analysis of pharmacological systems. He has developed methods, algorithms, and software to study and model pharmaceutical interactions.
    A major focus of his group is how artificial intelligence and machine learning can aid the drug discovery process: for example, in drug screening and the study of drug toxicity, metabolism, and resistance.
    His group combines in silico and in vitro experiments at the cellular level and has access to a robotic high-content imaging laboratory connected to a modern IT infrastructure to manage and analyze large amounts of data.

    Prof. Dr. Jean-Louis Reymond

    Jean-Louis Reymond is a Professor of Chemistry at the University of Bern, Switzerland. He studied chemistry and biochemistry at the ETH Zurich and received his Ph.D. from the University of Lausanne on the synthesis of natural products (1989).
    After a post-doc and an assistant professorship at the Scripps Research Institute, he moved to the University of Bern (1997). His research focuses on the recognition and representation of the chemical space for small molecule drug discovery, the synthesis of new molecules from GDB (http://gdb.unibe.ch), and the design and synthesis of peptide dendrimers and polycyclic peptides as antimicrobial agents and for nucleic acid transport. He is the author of > 300 scientific publications and reviews (h = 62).