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Senior Director, RNAi Discovery

Pliant Therapeutics · South San Francisco, CA · On-site

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About Pliant Therapeutics

Pliant Therapeutics Inc. is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering and developing novel therapies for the treatment of fibrosis and related diseases. Backed by Menlo Ventures.

About the role

At Pliant, we believe differentiated science can make a meaningful impact. We see our success as a direct result of the central role that each team member plays in advancing our mission to develop therapies that target the disease at its source. We are seeking creative, curious and collaborative individuals who dare to succeed , are committed to making an important impact on patient’s lives and will help us build one Pliant ! Found on 1752vc Careers, the job board for startup and VC roles.

What they're looking for

  • Demonstrated track record of advancing siRNA programs from design through lead optimization and in vivo proof of concept, ideally to a development candidate or IND
  • Deep expertise in siRNA design, including bioinformatic library design and genome- and transcriptome-wide off-target analysis
  • Strong understanding of siRNA chemistry and structure-activity relationships, including modification patterns and conjugation strategies, and experience optimizing hits for potency, durability and safety
  • Hands-on experience in in vitro screening, including cell line selection, assay development, assay optimization and running hit and lead identification campaigns
  • Experience with in vivo evaluation of siRNAs in mice and NHP, including study design and interpretation of PK/PD data
  • Working knowledge of oligonucleotide manufacturing and CMC considerations, with the ability to translate discovery decisions into scalable, manufacturable leads
More about this role

At Pliant, we believe differentiated science can make a meaningful impact. We see our success as a direct result of the central role that each team member plays in advancing our mission to develop therapies that target the disease at its source. We are seeking creative, curious and collaborative individuals who dare to succeed , are committed to making an important impact on patient’s lives and will help us build one Pliant !

We are seeking a Head of RNAi Discovery to build and lead our siRNA discovery engine. This leader will own the end-to-end discovery strategy, from bioinformatic design of siRNA libraries and off-target assessment, through chemistry optimization of hits and in vitro screening, to scale-up of lead assets for in vivo evaluation in mice and non-human primates (NHP) and hand-off of the technical knowledge needed for CMC production.

This is a hands-on scientific leadership role with a primary emphasis on RNAi design and on leading the in vitro screening organization, including cell line selection, assay development and the hit and lead identification cascade. The successful candidate will recruit and develop the team needed to execute, partner closely with biology,...

Read the full posting on Pliant Therapeutics's site ↗

Translational Sciences

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