Scientist, Formulation

Plexxikon, a member of the Daiichi Sankyo Group, is a leader in the discovery and development of novel, small molecule pharmaceuticals. The company utilizes its proprietary discovery platform to successfully develop a portfolio of competitively differentiated clinical and preclinical stage compounds in a number of therapeutic areas. Plexxikon’s first marketed drug, Zelboraf™ (vemurafenib) was the first precision medicine to be approved for the treatment of BRAF-mutant metastatic melanoma.  Plexxikon's demonstrated capability in discovery and early development uniquely positions the company to develop multiple commercial franchises for different therapeutic indications, and to create significant value for Plexxikon, Daiichi Sankyo and its collaborators.  Plexxikon's novel discovery approach, combined with experienced management and scientific teams, a broad network of scientific and clinical experts, and partnerships supporting later stage development, have been key drivers of the company's success since it began operations in 2001.  Plexxikon is a small business with approximately 70 employees based in South San Francisco, California.

We are seeking a Scientist, Nonclinical Formulation for our Drug Metabolism and Pharmacokinetic (DMPK) department. This is an exceptional opportunity to work with a core discovery group within a successful biopharmaceutical company that bring drugs from ideas to the clinic.

Responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

• Develop and implement formulation strategy to support preclinical development of novel drug candidates, adhere to pre-specified timelines, budget, and performance standards
• Design and conduct pre-formulation assessment studies, including characterization of the physicochemical and biopharmaceutical properties of various novel drug candidates
• Develop, prepare, evaluate, and characterize formulated test articles and drug products for efficacy, PK, toxicology, and clinical studies
• Support development of analytical methods required to characterize drug candidates and drug product formulations including stability studies
• Provide guidance and expertise on preformulation and drug delivery options to support the development programs and cross-functional teams
• Maintain and manage formulation and analytical equipment in the Pharmaceutics laboratory
• Analyze and organize data using scientific software, present research findings and project status at internal and external meetings, prepare reports for regulatory filings
• Maintain familiarity with current scientific literature relevant to the pharmaceutical research and contribute to clinical formulation development (Drug Delivery, BCS, and QbD)
• Maintain laboratory notebook in a complete, consistent, and concise manner in accordance with Plexxikon intellectual property policies and practices
• Adhere to good health and safety practices and comply with applicable EH&S safety rules, and participate in mandatory safety training programs
• Maintain close collaborations with fellow researchers across disciplines in a close-knit team environment
• Keep up to date on relevant scientific literature, identify emerging trends for development of poorly-soluble compounds, and leverage the insights gained to progress projects 
• Hands-on work in the pharmaceutics lab
• Other duties as assigned