Careers

Department:                      Drug Discovery
Reports To:                        Principal Scientist, Drug Discovery
Location:                           Cambridge, MA

The Team

Casma Therapeutics is a new company focused on harnessing the power of autophagy to bring forward breakthrough medicines that profoundly impact the lives of patients. Autophagy is a conserved cellular process that contributes to overall organismal healthspan. Inefficient autophagy flux or defects in lysosomal homeostasis are observed in numerous pathologies (e.g. neurodegeneration, metabolic disorders, inflammation, and muscle weakness). The team at Casma is committed to developing the best tools to further our understanding of autophagy in disease and advance safe and life-changing therapeutics into the clinic. We are a collaborative, motivated, and selfless team that is driving pathway discovery, target validation, and drug development. We have high standards for our science, and we believe in enabling our colleagues to do great things and live great lives.

Your Role

We are seeking a new member of our team at the Senior Research Associate/Scientist level. You will be an integral part of drug discovery programs that lead to the identification of novel therapeutic targets and drug candidates for clinical development. As a newly founded and fast-growing startup, you will have numerous growth opportunities and your voice will actively contribute to the company direction. We are looking for someone who will share our excitement about the science, contribute to our culture, and honor our commitment to patients.

Job Responsibilities:

• Contribute to our efforts in the conceptual design, development, and implementation of biochemical assays, small to medium scale screening of compounds, and investigation of enzymatic mechanisms of action
• Play a leading role to ensure biochemical/biophysical characterization of enzymes in the context of protein and small molecule interactions
• Build positive relationships and work directly with our external partners – both academic and CROs – to execute Casma’s scientific goals
• Interact closely with exploratory cell biologists and medicinal chemists to elucidate relevant intracellular biochemistry and provide expertise as a member of drug discovery project teams

Required Experience:

• Masters plus 5-7 years conducting high quality science in an industry setting or Ph.D. with 2-3 years in an industry setting.
• Strong core competencies in biochemical or biophysical assay development and medium throughput compound screening.
• Comfort and familiarity with laboratory automation and data handling.
• Experience in drug discovery with hit-to-lead characterization of small molecule candidates. Specific familiarity with the properties of protein complexes is highly desirable.
• A strong background in biochemistry and biophysical chemistry, including in-depth understanding of enzyme kinetics, and mechanism-of-action studies. Familiarity with interpretation of protein structural models is a plus.

Cultural attributes:

• Strong interpersonal and communication skills
• Integrity, transparency, curiosity and focus
• Ability to successfully participate in a highly creative, fun, and enthusiastic start-up environment

Department: Drug Discovery
Reports to: SVP of Drug Discovery
Location: Cambridge, MA 

The Role:

We are currently seeking a highly motivated, creative, and experienced computational chemist to build a cutting edge modeling and computational chemistry effort to drive the drug discovery efforts for multiple programs.  In addition to significant experience in compound design towards successful discovery programs and expertise in modeling and computational technologies, the position will require the candidate to have capacity to work independently within a collaborative environment and demonstrate leadership, creativity and adaptability in their scientific work.  In this role, the successful candidate will provide scientific leadership on a day-to-day basis within a multi-disciplinary drug design team guiding an international, virtual synthetic chemistry team.

Major Responsibilities:

• Defining and acquiring appropriate modeling software to support medicinal chemistry
• Executing structure-based drug design using co-crystal structures
• Creating pharmacophore, homology, QSAR and other empirical models
• Interacting with experienced drug design team to generate structural hypotheses
• Accessing and manipulating crystallographic data, ligand docking to active sites and homology modeling

Requirements and Qualifications:

• Ph.D. degree in computational chemistry, computational biology or a related field, with 8+ years of related work experience within a pharmaceutical or biotech environment
• Proven leadership experience managing projects and people; must be capable of building computational chemistry as a function within the organization
• Excellent oral and written communication skills and organizational skills are essential
• Expertise in applying in silico techniques for the process of hit identification through advanced lead optimization.
• A solid understanding of chemometrics, which includes QSAR methodologies, data mining and visualization, protein modeling, molecular docking, library design, conformational analysis, pharmacophore development, 2D and 3D similarity.
• A good understanding of bioinformatics and computational biology including gene expression data analysis and mining biological pathways to enhance target knowledge (GeneGO, Ingenuity).
• Background in medicinal chemistry and basic knowledge of synthetic organic chemistry.
• The ability to work independently as effectively as being able to collaborate in multidisciplinary teams.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills and scientific creativity are essential.
• Programming skills in C/C++/C#, Java and scripting in Perl/Python and Pipeline Pilot.

Senior Scientist, Medicinal Chemistry
Department: Drug Discovery
Reports to: SVP of Drug Discovery

The Role:

• Responsible for design and the synthesis of compounds that lead to the identification of drug candidates for clinical development
• Execute on medicinal chemistry ideas to identify drug candidates for clinical development
• Mentor and supervise associate scientists and serve as a source of synthetic chemistry expertise
• Manage external chemists and collaborations resulting in the delivery of drug candidates on aggressive time lines
• Actively follow scientific advancements and literature within the area of research interest

Requirements and Qualifications:

• PhD in Organic Chemistry and 7-10 years of relevant pharmaceutical industry experience
• Demonstrated exemplary skills in all aspects of organic and medicinal chemistry techniques including parallel library design and synthesis, structure based design, analytical methods and purification methods
• Strong organizational, managerial and communication skills are a must
• Experience in functioning within a strong multi-disciplinary team and utilizing cross-functional information, such as cellular data and ADME/DMPK, to drive medicinal chemistry strategies is also a must have
• Experience in functioning within a matrix driven organization required
• Demonstrated strong leadership skills and a track record of success in all aspect of medicinal chemistry and drug discovery from hit identification, hit to leads and especially in lead optimization
• Demonstrated record of success toward clinical candidates is a must have
• Experience in managing external FTE resources in chemistry is a plus

Department: R&D
Reports To: SVP, Biology
Location: Cambridge, MA

The Role

Casma Therapeutics is seeking an experienced drug discovery scientist with deep knowledge evaluating therapeutic efficacy in rodent models for rare genetic diseases and CNS disorders. The candidate will also be responsible for defining and executing an autophagy biomarker discovery strategy and should adopt a highly collaborative approach to establish strong relationships with external partners and the internal drug discovery team.  This is a unique opportunity to join an innovative start up biotech from inception to develop novel therapeutics to meet currently unmet medical needs.

Major Responsibilities

• Collaborate with the Casma team to define and execute a strategy to evaluate efficacy in relevant rodent models
• Design and supervise the execution of studies and fully collaborate with drug discovery team to reach critical decision points leading to nomination of development candidates
• Develop a strategy to discover and validate autophagy biomarkers suitable for clinical development

Requirements and Qualifications

Education:

• Ph.D.

Required Experience:

• 7-10 years of relevant work experience in biotech/ pharma
• Experience employing molecular profiling approaches to develop pathway-dependent biomarkers suitable for use in clinical development
• Experience collaborating with biologists and chemists to generate in vivo target validation data using genetic and pharmacological methods.
• Multiple examples of supporting medicinal chemistry efforts to identify develop candidates
• Prior experience and record of accomplishment functioning in cross functional teams and willingness to adopt a hands-on approach to deliver in a start-up biotech environment
• Prior experience in successfully implementing, utilizing and leveraging outsourcing strategies

Knowledge, Skills & Abilities:

• Significant expertise working across disease indications with specific focus on RGD and CNS.
• Extensive know-how using biochemical, molecular and behavioral endpoints is essential
• Solid understanding of drug metabolism, PD biomarkers and endpoint correlations required
• Strong written, oral and public speaking communication skills

Department: R&D
Reports To: SVP, Biology
Location: Cambridge, MA

The Role

Casma Therapeutics is seeking an experienced in vivo drug discovery scientist to develop and lead pharmacology strategy.  The successful candidate will have experience in designing and executing in vivo behavioral and physiological experiments to determine the efficacy of novel compounds designed to have efficacy across a range of therapeutic indications including neurodegeneration, rare genetic disease and metabolic disorders.   The individual would be expected to manage and lead the in vivo pharmacological needs of multiple projects in a wide array of indications.

This individual will adopt a highly collaborative approach to establish strong relationships with external partners and the internal drug discovery team.  This is a unique opportunity to join an innovative start up biotech from inception and contribute to development of novel therapeutics to treat currently unmet medical needs.

Major Responsibilities

• Develop relationships with external partners to support in vivo preclinical studies
• Design and supervise the execution of studies and fully collaborate with drug discovery team to reach critical decision points leading to nomination of development candidates
• Manage all aspects of running in vivo models supporting multiple indications to drive programs forward from early discovery to IND
• Act as pharmacology project team representative or leader on multiple projects and programs
• Demonstrate a high degree of influence and leadership in these projects through past experiences at this level
• Provide mentorship and leadership to researchers within the team as well as external collaborators and CROs
• Deliver scientific, regulatory and project management leadership to advance projects
• Act as primary contact for DMPK, ADME and Toxicology consultants for IND enabling studies

Requirements and Qualifications:

Education:

• Ph.D. degree in pharmacology or related discipline

Required Experience:

• 7-10 years of relevant work experience in biotech/ pharma
• Significant expertise working across disease indications with specific focus on RGD and CNS
• Experience with identifying relevant translational disease models and applying them to meet program goals
• Multiple examples of supporting medicinal chemistry efforts to identify and develop candidates
• Prior experience and record of accomplishment functioning in cross functional teams and willingness to adopt a hands-on approach to deliver in a start-up biotech environment
• Prior experience in successfully implementing, utilizing and leveraging outsourcing strategies

Knowledge, Skills & Abilities:

• Strong written, oral and public speaking communication skills.
• Strong Project Management skills
• Ability to influence and work effectively with external CROs and other vendors

Desired Additional Skills & Experience:

• Prior experience leading programs from pre-clinical to IND submission
• Deep understanding of DMPK, Toxicology and ADME, proven track record of collaborating with CROs and academic centers to advance programs
• Experience collaborating with biologists and chemists to generate in vivo target validation data and establishing PK/PD and biomarker correlations
• Significant experience with different routes of drug delivery in rodents and HDI/AAV-mediated gene delivery

Department:  Biology
Reports To:  Scientist/Scientist II, Biology
Location:  Cambridge, MA

The Team

Casma Therapeutics is a new company focused on harnessing the power of autophagy to bring forward breakthrough medicines that profoundly impact the lives of patients. Autophagy is a conserved cellular process that contributes to overall organismal healthspan. Inefficient autophagy flux or defects in lysosomal homeostasis are observed in numerous pathologies (e.g. neurodegeneration, metabolic disorders, inflammation, and muscle weakness). The team at Casma is committed to developing the best tools to further our understanding of autophagy in disease and advance safe and life-changing therapeutics into the clinic. We are a collaborative, motivated, and selfless team that is driving pathway discovery, target validation, and drug development. We have high standards for our science, and we believe in enabling our colleagues to do great things and live great lives.

Your Role

We are seeking a new member of our team at the Senior Research Associate/Scientist level. You will be an integral part of drug discovery programs that lead to the identification of novel therapeutic targets and drug candidates for clinical development. As a newly founded and fast-growing startup, you will have numerous growth opportunities and your voice will actively contribute to the company direction. We are looking for someone who will share our excitement about the science, contribute to our culture, and honor our commitment to patients.

Required Experience:

• Bachelors plus 4-6 years or Masters plus 2-5 years of experience conducting high quality science in an industry setting.
• Strong core competencies in molecular biology, cell biology, assay development, and medium throughput compound screening.
• Proficient in mammalian cell culture, primary cells, cell line development, and generation of disease models
• Strong expertise in genetic manipulation using technologies such as CRISPR, shRNA, lentiviral/retroviral transduction, RNAi
• Hands-on knowledge of flow cytometry and FACS analysis techniques
• Experience in western blotting and immunoprecipitation
• Previous experience with live cell imaging, high content imaging, and FRET assays favorably considered
• Previous experience working with mouse models, compound dosing, tissue processing, and immunohistochemistry a plus

Cultural attributes:

• Strong interpersonal and communication skills
• A demonstrated ability to think logically and critically
• Ability to successfully participate in a highly creative and enthusiastic start-up environment
• Exemplify a patient first mentality, courage, integrity, drive, and respect for all team members
• Practice the 3 L’s: Listen, Learn, Lead

Department: Program Management / BD
Reports To: COO
Location: Cambridge, MA

The Role

Casma has an incredible opportunity for a versatile individual to become an integral member of the R&D and business teams, contributing to the program management function as a key value driver.  This person will play an instrumental role in organizing and advancing critical R&D programs, facilitating timely and impactful decisions, and establishing and contributing to the development of overall program and portfolio/BD strategy at Casma.

Major Responsibilities

• In partnership with the project leaders, guide program strategy, set program goals and lead team decision-making for Casma’s discovery and early development programs
• Act as Alliance Manager on with key research collaborators, suppliers and licensors
• Lead program management activities, including program planning and milestones tracking, meeting management/minutes, and internal reporting
• Ensure coordination of activities and deliverables across all functions
• Develop and implement program management best practices and associated tools
• Collaborate cross-functionally to develop and manage the R&D budget, including resource tracking and scenario planning
• Manage CROs and other vendors, as appropriate
• Provide analytic support by building and updating value creation models, conducting market analysis, and performing competitive intelligence
• Contribute to the refinement, articulation, and execution of Casma’s business and science strategy
• Support corporate partnering efforts (e.g., negotiation, coordination of due diligence activities, drafting research plans, financial analysis, term sheet drafting, etc.)
• Work with Business Development and R&D team to craft external partnering presentations

Requirements and Qualifications:

Education:

• MS/MBA, MD or PhD preferred

Required Experience:

• 5-8 years of relevant biotech or pharmaceutical industry experience
• At least 2-3 years in program/project management
• Experience managing projects across discovery and preclinical programs; experience leading cross functional activities through IND submission preferred
• Operational experience and familiarity with the drug development process, including function-level activities and external regulatory requirements
• Experience setting and maintaining budgets

Knowledge, Skills & Abilities:

• Ability to influence across multiple functions, effectively work with different personalities and styles, and efficiently prioritize activities
• Excellent communication skills; comfortable navigating complexity and ambiguity in a fast-paced environment
• Knowledge of project management and presentation tools (Microsoft Project, Excel, PowerPoint)

Department: Drug Discovery
Reports To: Head of Drug Discovery
Location: Cambridge, MA

The Role

Casma is looking for an experienced Drug Discovery Program Leader to help guide key program(s) from target selection to IND in peptide chemistry.

Major Responsibilities

• Lead novel peptide-based drug development programs from peptide selection to IND utilizing a blend of internal and external resources.
• Establish relationships with consultants, manufacturing and formulation CROs to support peptide development programs from research through clinical evaluation
• Lead cross-functional teams of biology, pharmacology, chemistry, and clinical translation to optimally advance peptide and small molecule programs from discovery through clinical POC

Requirements and Qualifications:

Education:

• Ph.D. in synthetic organic or peptide chemistry

Required Experience:

• 10 + years of industry experience in drug development with emphasis in therapeutic peptide development including manufacturing and formulation
• Strong understanding of peptide pharmacology, DMPK, toxicology and CMC
• Previous experience advancing programs for regulatory submissions (IND)
• Previous experience in managing CROs, CMOs and consultants

Knowledge, Skills & Abilities:

• Proven track record of creative thinking and consistent delivery as demonstrated by publication/presentation records
• Ability to function in a dynamic biotech environment

Department: Biology
Reports To: Scientist, Biology
Location: Cambridge, MA 

The Role

We are seeking a highly motivated, Research Associate to participate in drug discovery programs that lead to the identification of new targets and drug candidates for clinical development.  The individual should possess strong core competencies in cell biology, molecular biology, assay development.

Requirements and Qualifications:

Education:

• Bachelor’s or Master’s Degree

Required Experience:

• Bachelors or Masters Degree in biology or related discipline
• Bachelors plus 3-5 years or Masters plus 1-3 years of experience conducting high quality science in an industry setting.
• Proficient in mammalian cell culture, cell line generation
• Experience with western blotting, immunoprecipitation, and plasmid preparation
• Expertise in genetic manipulation using CRISPR, shRNA, lentiviral/retroviral transduction or RNAi
• Hands-on knowledge of flow cytometry and FACS analysis techniques preferred

Knowledge, Skills & Abilities:

• Excellent organizational skills and attention to detail
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills
• Ability to successfully participate in a highly creative and fast-paced start-up environment