mRNA - Senior Scientist Biophysics Drug Product Formulation Development - Vaccines

In the race for the future of health – The Sanofi mRNA Center of Excellence (CoE)

About the Job

At Sanofi, we chase the miracles of science, and we know mRNA has a role to play in the future of health. And while the pandemic has shaken up our industry, creating new opportunities and risks, we believe the acceleration of innovation with mRNA technology means vaccines and treatments for more people faster than before.

That’s why we’re looking for bold, optimistic world-changers to join our mRNA Center of Excellence. We’re investing €400m a year into the new Center, hiring a team of 450 dedicated employees, and focusing on implementing an integrated end-to-end mRNA vaccine capabilities and research with R&D, digital and CMC teams.

Bring your ambition and optimism and join us on our journey to discover and deliver transformative medicine to patients through advancing our cutting-edge mRNA technology!

We are an innovative global healthcare company that helps the world stay ahead of infectious diseases by delivering more than 500 million vaccine doses a year. Across different countries, our talented teams are exploring new technologies to protect people and promote healthy communities. We chase the miracles of science every single day, pursuing progress to make a real impact on millions of patients around the world.

As an experienced Senior Scientist in the LNP Platform Development Team, you will focus on developing new, optimizing existing, and executing biophysical characterization methods to support the development of new LNP formulations for the CMC team in the mRNA Center of Excellence with the ultimate goal of to contribute to Sanofi’s goals of bringing innovative new mRNA vaccines to the market. This role will work across multiple teams and functions (CMC drug product development, analytical science, Research, and regulatory) and potentially different stages of drug product development to seek innovation of biophysics-related characterization and support project development, including troubleshooting.

• Be an integrated part of new LNP drug product platform development team and lead cross-functional efforts in the design, development, and execution of biophysical characterization studies to enable the development of a new LNP platform in the mRNA Center of Excellence.

• Lead the development of a variety of biophysical characterization operations and innovations, including, for example, particle size measurement, zeta potential determination, particle morphology and internal structure determination, lipid fluidity, nuclei acid-lipid interaction, etc.

• Provide scientific insights through the lens of biophysical science to support the development of new-generation LNP vaccines, including considering the vaccines' thermostability, potency, and manufacturing process.

• Collaborate with Research, CMC Analytical Science, and others to provide a deep understanding of LNP characteristics during manufacturing and stability studies.

• Support the technology transfer of drug product formulation and process to tox and pilot scale as needed.

• Represent functional areas in cross-functional and strategic teams engaged in novel mRNA vaccine development.

• Analyze, interpret, and summarize results in technical reports and presentations.

• Stay current with the literature on biophysical characterization techniques related to lipid nanoparticles and provide related equipment recommendations to management.

• Provides training, technical oversight and strategic guidance to junior team members.
  

The duties of this role are conducted in a lab environment. Experience with electronic record keeping and data software, like electronic lab notebooks, EndNote, maintenance of laboratory instrumentation (organizing preventative maintenance, data backup, software upgrade, etc.), as well as GraphPad, Visio, JMP/Minitab, and Adobe Pro, would be an advantage.

About you

• Earned Ph.D. in Biophysics, Physics, Chemical Engineering, Pharmaceutical Science, Chemistry or related sciences with 3+ years of relevant post-doc or industry experience.

• Direct biophysics and advanced biophysical characterization of pharmaceutical formulation or drug delivery systems; experience with lipid nanoparticles or other lipid-based nanoparticle highly preferred

• Scientific and practical knowledge of nucleic acids, lipid biochemistry, formulation stability, and biotherapeutic drug product process development is essential.

• Firsthand experience in analytical tools, such as SEC, FFF-MALS, DLS, HPLC, RP-IP, AEX, microscopy, particle size tracking, and MFI, is preferred.

• Experience in studies/data interpretation of Isothermal calorimetry, SAXS and NMR is desirable.

• Experience in fluorescence microscopy, single particle tracking, and quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation (QCM-D) is a plus.

• Hands-on experience with lipid-based nanoparticle systems and m-RNA-based product development is highly desirable.

• Desire to work in a fast-paced environment. 

• Excellent organizational and communication skills 

• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills  

• A strong ability to communicate scientific topics in writing and presentations.

• Able to work collaboratively and adhere to timelines.

Why Choose Us?

• Bring the miracles of science to life alongside a supportive, future-focused team.

• Discover endless opportunities to grow your talent and drive your career, whether it’s through a promotion or lateral move, at home or internationally.

• Enjoy a thoughtful, well-crafted rewards package that recognizes your contribution and amplifies your impact.

• Take good care of yourself and your family, with a wide range of health and wellbeing benefits including high-quality healthcare, prevention and wellness programs and at least 14 weeks’ gender-neutral parental leave.

Sanofi Inc. and its U.S. affiliates are Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action employers committed to a culturally diverse workforce. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race; color; creed; religion; national origin; age; ancestry; nationality; marital, domestic partnership or civil union status; sex, gender, gender identity or expression; affectional or sexual orientation; disability; veteran or military status or liability for military status; domestic violence victim status; atypical cellular or blood trait; genetic information (including the refusal to submit to genetic testing) or any other characteristic protected by law.

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