At Agenus, we believe vertical integration is critically important. We have taken aggressive steps to accomplish this, facilitating rapid and efficient advancement of our antibody programs and minimizing reliance on external vendors. Through innovation and strategic acquisitions, Agenus scientists have access to an unparalleled capabilities tool kit.

Performing early discovery work on novel antibodies, including validating targets and identifying lead compounds, is highly enabled by our mammalian, phage and yeast display platform technologies. Lead optimization and candidate verification benefit from our integrated discovery platforms, including our mammalian Retrocyte Display^TM and HT-CHO technologies. These integrated platforms, along with our structural and computational biology capabilities, positions us to precisely control and design the properties of our antibodies so that we can generate products with the desired properties to enhance their efficacy.

We have also built our in-house cell line development and manufacturing capabilities, which we regard as an important advantage in an environment of increasingly tighter third party manufacturing capacities.

This integration of our discovery, development and manufacturing capabilities provides Agenus with unique advantages in an era when quality, efficiencies and speed of development and commercialization are paramount to successfully developing a new generation of I-O biopharmaceutical therapeutics.

Who are we looking for?

• An Innovative and enthusiastic Scientist to join our Upstream Development team
• A candidate who loves to create novel and impactful therapeutic approaches and is excited to translate scientific discoveries into cancer therapies.
• A Scientist who loves working on multiple projects in a fast-paced environment

What are we looking for?

• Leading the way: A creative and learning-agile scientist, willing to challenge the status quo
• Ownership: A partner to jointly own our company’s goals, execution and success
• Working together: A colleague to thrive on collaboration with our global teammates
• Loving what you do: A team member with positive energy that is passionate about our mission

What are we offering?

• A dynamic, fun and learning culture in a global setting: US, UK
• Exposure to pioneering science and the full scope of the drug development process
• Innovative thinking: speed of adopting new technologies, clear prioritization, using analytics to accelerate agile development
• A unique opportunity to help develop the platforms and strategy of a burgeoning company
• Manager with broad experience, passionate about the science, who is a proven mentor and coach with an extensive research and development portfolio
• Career support and leadership opportunities within the Process Development group
• Membership within a growing, dynamic and collegial organization

Summary

We are seeking an innovative Upstream Development Scientist that will focus on cell culture and upstream process development for all pipeline antibody products using mammalian expression systems. Responsibilities include the identification of critical process parameters, cell growth and productivity optimization using statistical and empirical approaches and scale up of upstream process from bench and pilot-scale to large scale disposable production bioreactors. Opportunities include troubleshooting established commercial antibody upstream processes and 2^nd generation process improvement in a technical support role. Those with expertise in batch, fed-batch, and perfusion culture systems with full understanding of metabolic flux shifts during production are encouraged to apply and join our dynamic team!

• Develop scalable cell culture processes for production of antibodies using mammalian expression systems.
• Design, investigate, and execute experiments to explore all aspects of media, feeds, and cell culture optimization and product recovery from process streams.
• Author technical developmental reports.
• Participate in writing CMC sections for regulatory submissions.
• Lead efforts in improving current cell culture process, e.g. literature searches, vendor interactions, etc.
• Collaborate with other functional areas, including cell line development, downstream development, analytical and formulation development and manufacturing groups.
• Involved in actively supporting technology transfer of antibody production process to CMOs
• Mentor and share expertise with research associates

Education:

• Ph.D. in Biochemical Engineering/Chemical Engineering or related field with 2 years relevant experience or equivalent combination of education and experience; or BS/MS in Biochemical Engineering/Chemical Engineering or related field with 5+ years of relevant experience; or equivalent combination of education and experience.

Experience:

• Development of scalable mammalian cell culture process, from small- (ambr, 1L) to intermediate and large- scale (e.g. 1000L) bioreactors
• Experience in scale up and transfer of upstream cell culture process from small-scale to large scale bioreactors.
• Experience and in-depth knowledge of state-of-the-art principles and theories in media optimization and nutrients role in fed batch fermentation.
• Experience in leading, engaging, and motivating others within team environments.

Special skills/knowledge:

• Knowledge of bioreactor hardware and controllers at intermediate-to-commercial scales (1L-2000L).
• Knowledge of cGMPs and process validation requirements desired
• Require some flexibility in work schedule, occasional weekend or off-shift hours to troubleshoot and/or monitor cell culture process.