Postdoctoral Fellow – Development of next generation Oligonucleotide Therapeutics with enhanced efficacy and tissue selectivity

R-215834: Postdoctoral Fellow – Development of next generation Oligonucleotide Therapeutics with enhanced efficacy and tissue selectivity
Location: Gothenburg
Competitive Salary, Bonus & Benefits Package

Do you have expertise in, and passion for Oligonucleotide therapeutics and synthesis thereof? Would you like to apply your knowledge to impact drug discovery projects in a company that follows the science and turns ideas into life-changing medicines? Then join the Cardiovascular Renal & Metabolism (CVRM) and Discovery Sciences (DS) departments at AstraZeneca and unlock the power of what science can do!

About AstraZeneca
AstraZeneca is a global, science-led, patient-centred biopharmaceutical company focusing on discovering, developing, and commercialising prescription medicines for some of the world’s most serious diseases. But we’re more than a global leading pharmaceutical company. At AstraZeneca, we're dedicated to being a Great Place to Work and empowering employees to push the boundaries of science and fuel their entrepreneurial spirit. 

About our Postdoc Programme
Bring your expertise, apply your knowledge, follow the science, and make a difference. AstraZeneca’s Postdoc Programme is for self-motivated individuals looking to deliver exciting projects in an encouraging, engaging, and innovative environment. You'll work with multidisciplinary scientific teams from a diverse set of backgrounds and a world-class academic mentor specifically aligned to your project. Our postdocs are respected as specialists, encouraged to speak up, and supported to share their research at conferences, publish papers, achieve their goals.

Make a more meaningful impact in your career, with greater ownership and accountability to make a contribution whilst making a difference to the lives of our patients!

This is a 3-year programme, with an initial 2-year period and a 1-year merit-based extension.

About the Opportunity
The purpose of this position is to provide early-career researchers with an opportunity to further develop their expertise and skills. Postdocs play a crucial role in advancing scientific knowledge and driving innovation in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries.
Our successful Postdoc will be generating the next generation Oligonucleotide Therapeutics by investigating if plasma half-life extension strategies can be applied to Oligonucleotide therapeutics and combined with targeting ligands to enhance tissue-selective uptake and thereby improve efficacy and tissue selectivity.
This project is supported by a cross functional team with core expertise within three key areas i) oligo conjugate chemistry ii) in vitro profiling and iii) oligonucleotide-focused DMPK within the departments of Cardiovascular Renal & Metabolism (CVRM) and Discovery Sciences (DS). The cross-functional team sits at the heart of discovery of novel Oligonucleotide Therapeutics that will potentially transform drug discovery and deliver new medicines to patients.

Project Focus
This project will conduct pioneering research in the development of Next Generation Oligonucleotide Therapeutics by exploiting plasma half-life extension strategies to enable improved tissue targeting through receptor-mediated uptake. The Postdoc will collaborate with experienced AZ interdisciplinary scientists with diverse set backgrounds, and exceptional academic mentor specifically aligned to the project, to develop novel Oligonucleotide Therapeutics conjugates for enhanced therapeutic efficacy and tissue selectivity.

Supported by Anders Gunnarsson (Principal Scientist, Biophysics), Laurent Knerr (Senior Director, Medicinal Chemistry) and Sebastian Sten (Associate Principal Scientist, Drug Metabolism and Pharmacokinetics) at AstraZeneca. You'll also receive academic mentorship and guidance from Professor Knud J. Jensen at Department of Chemistry at Copenhagen University.

What You’ll Do
The Postdoctoral Fellow will conduct ground-breaking research using state-of-the-art oligonucleotide synthesis facilities to generate hypothesis-driven siRNA conjugates with various modifications. You will also develop your skill set in a wide range of in vitro assays to profile the generated conjugates including biophysical, biochemical and cellular experiments. Finally, you will be involved in selecting conjugates for in vivo (PKPD) and supporting the corresponding analysis.

Key Duties & Responsibilities

• Design, generate and profile innovative oligonucleotide conjugates for assessment of efficacy and tissue selectivity by incorporation of plasma half-life extension motifs.

• Lead and drive the project under the supervision of cross-functional AstraZeneca team and in collaboration with the academic expert.

• Plan, write, publish, and present high-quality scientific papers

Essential Requirements

• PhD degree (or equivalent) in synthetic chemistry, chemical biology, biochemistry or a related field

• Proficiency in organic chemistry and/or conjugation chemistry

Our Postdoc programme is aimed at individuals who are either:

• Within 5-years of obtaining their doctoral degree (PhD, DVM, or MD) - PhD already awarded, or

• Students, soon to obtain doctoral degrees (the PhD must be awarded within 6 months of joining AstraZeneca)

Desirable Requirements

• Experience with oligonucleotide and/or peptide chemistry

• Experience with biophysical, biochemical and/or cellular experiments.

• Excellent written and oral communication skills

• Strong planning, organizational and time management skills

• Ability to work effectively in a multi-disciplinary, research environment

Reasons to Apply
This is a fantastic opportunity to work in an industry-leading group with a strong publication track record and be supported by a leading academic supervisor. Oligonucleotide-based therapeutics is an attractive modality due to its ability to address intractable targets. However, the major caveat for success is the limited efficacy of Oligonucleotides Therapeutics for targets beyond the liver which stems for the absence of effective delivery approaches (beyond the liver), currently an unsolved challenge across the industry. Pioneering development of next generation Oligonucleotide Therapeutics by exploiting plasma half-life extension strategies will help us understand if such a platform could provide means to address targets beyond the liver.

Why AstraZeneca
The unique positioning of this postdoc within a pharmaceutical company such as AZ, means that you will be able to access large datasets which are not available in the public domain. Moreover, you’ll have the satisfaction of knowing that methods and techniques you develop will not only be published but will also be used within AZ after the postdoc position concludes, in real-life projects - and that ultimately the work you do will directly impact patients’ lives!

On-Site Working
The position is located at our research site in Gothenburg, Sweden.
As a key member of a research group and taking a leading role on a Postdoctoral project, we expect regular attendance - a minimum of 3 days per week on the AstraZeneca campus. For laboratory-based scientists, this may be higher. 
Given the unique positioning of our Postdoctoral researchers, you may have an additional opportunity to spend some time with an external academic mentor. In this instance, you may be required to spend some of your time working alongside them at their facility as driven by the research project.

Your flexibility to meet the needs of the research and the scope of the project is required and we also look to support you with flexibility in accordance with our standard work policies.

Next Steps
If your passion is science and you want to be part of a team that makes a bigger impact on patients’ lives, then there’s no better place to be. 

This advert will be running from January 2nd 2025 and, we welcome your application as soon as possible, but ahead of the scheduled closing date of January 31st 2025. In the event, that we identify suitable candidates ahead of the scheduled closing date, we reserve the right to close the vacancy earlier than published. 

Find Out More
AZ’s Postdoc Programme 

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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.