Director, Clinical Pharmacology and Quantitative Pharmacology (CPQP)

Position Summary

The Director, CPQP position resides within Alexion’s Clinical Pharmacology and Safety Sciences (CPSS) organization. As the CPQP lead, the incumbent is expected to provide subject matter expertise and program level functional leadership on issues related to clinical pharmacology, pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics (PK/PD), cell therapies, and genetic medicines from the pre-clinical stage up to the registration stage).  The role represents the CPQP function on drug development teams, leads CPQP sub-teams, and owns strategy and delivery on posology for early and late-stage clinical trials while collaborating with clinicians, clinical operations, bioanalytical, biomarker, pharmacovigilance, regulatory and CMC groups. 

Principal Responsibilities

• Represent CPQP function at the Global Project Team and lead CPSS sub-team.
• Responsible for providing support for the preparation of the clinical pharmacology (PK, PD, biomarkers, Bioanalytical) sections of early and late-stage clinical protocols, Clin Pharm development plans, M&S plans
• Contribute to the preparation of the pre-IND, IND, IB and IMPD documents
• Responsible for the pharmacokinetic and PK/PD data analyses using standard industry data analysis software
• Contribute to the design of early phase clinical trials (FIH to POC) and support project goals
• Responsible for recommending the starting dose in FIH trials based on allometric scaling or physiologically based modeling or QSP modeling; Conduct assessments of relevant exposure vs. response data for supporting dose selection during and post POC; Contribute to the design of late-stage clinical trials (POC-BLA/NDA) and support project goals
• Responsible for the preparation of the PK/PD reports/sections of clinical study reports
• Provide clinical pharmacology input and collaborate across all areas of drug development.  Special emphasis on providing clinical pharmacology aspects of genetic medicines to research, toxicology, immunogenicity, clinical and commercial team colleagues.
• Primary owner of delivering pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic data analyses using standard industry data analysis software.
• Responsible for delivering clinical pharmacology components of clinical study protocols and clinical study reports.

Qualifications

• Doctoral degree (PhD or Equivalent training by experience) in clinical pharmacology, pharmacology/cell biology/immunology, or relevant discipline.
• At least 10 years of pertinent post-doctoral experience in supporting pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics and other clinical pharmacology components of early clinical trials within the pharmaceutical or biotech industry.
• Exposure to genetic medicine and biologics drug development.  Knowledge of clinical immunology and virology is a plus.
• Knowledge of data analysis methodologies for implementation in analyzing early clinical phase data 
• Knowledge of general regulatory process and experience in contributing to IND, EOP1, EOP2, and pre-BLA/NDA meetings with the FDA and EMA
• Experience in genomic medicine and/or cell therapy clinical development. Hands on exposure to development issues related to recombinant DNA biology, bacterial production of plasmids, cell line biology, viral production, molecular analytical assays (qPCR, ddPCR, etc.), biochemistry analytical assays (ELISA, enzymatic activity, etc.), biophysics analytical assays (HPLC, DLS, CE-SDS, etc.), microscopy, tissue imaging (IHC, fluorescence microscopy), flow cytometry
• Excellent written and oral communication skills including good presentation skills
• Strong business acumen; including knowledge of the multidisciplinary functions involved in a company’s drug development process, e.g., clinical operations, research, biostatistics, clinical pharmacology, regulatory, commercial operations, etc. and can proactively integrate multiple perspectives into the clinical development process for best end-results

Education

• Doctoral degree (PhD or Equivalent training by experience) in clinical pharmacology, pharmacology/cell biology/immunology, or relevant discipline

AstraZeneca embraces diversity and equality of opportunity. We are committed to building an inclusive and diverse team representing all backgrounds, with as wide a range of perspectives as possible, and harnessing industry-leading skills. We believe that the more inclusive we are, the better our work will be. We welcome and consider applications to join our team from all qualified candidates, regardless of their characteristics. We comply with all applicable laws and regulations on non-discrimination in employment (and recruitment), as well as work authorization and employment eligibility verification requirements.