Agios Pharmaceuticals is searching for a dynamic Senior Scientist to join our growing DMPK/Clinical Pharmacology team.  The Senior Scientist will be responsible for working with various CROs for designing and analyzing in-vitro/in-vivo ADME studies and addressing issues related to metabolism and drug-drug interactions for both discovery and development programs. The ideal candidate will have a proven ability in identification of biotransformation pathways and metabolic enzymes/drug transporters involved in disposition of new therapeutic agents. A successful candidate should be able to exhibit strong communication and interpersonal skills and desire to work in a fast-paced, flexible and dynamic environment. 

Key Responsibilities

1. Design and execute in vitro and in vivo (preclinical and clinical) drug metabolism/ADME studies in support of discovery and development programs
2. Metabolic soft-spot identification and assessment reactive pathways to guide medicinal chemistry efforts in lead discovery and optimization
3. Elucidate biotransformation pathways and determine the role of metabolic enzymes (CYP & non-CYPs) and drug transporters involved in the disposition of new chemical entities
4. Identification of drug interaction liabilities due to enzyme/transporter substrate/inhibition/induction and set-up exclusion criteria in first-in-human trials
5. Provides leadership in clinical DDI study design based on clearance pathways, phenotyping and alteration of metabolic enzymes/drug-transporters activity
6. Serve as a subject matter expert in drug metabolism and DDIs with in DMPK/Clinical Pharmacology
7. Contribute for drafting INDs, IBs, briefing books and NDA documents to support regulatory submissions

Minimum Requirements

• Applicants should possess a PhD or Masters in Organic Chemistry/Medicinal Chemistry /Pharmaceutical Sciences with 5+ (PhD) or 8+ years (Masters) of pharmaceutical industry experience
• Good understanding of organic chemistry principles/structural elucidation of small molecules and xenobiotic metabolism is required
• The candidate should have extensive experience interpreting mass spectral (LC-MS) data and other structural elucidation techniques such as NMR, chemical derivatization etc.
• Strong knowledge in clinical relevance of clearance mechanisms and role of enzymes (CYPs & non-CYPs) and transporters in drug metabolism is required
• Thorough understanding of metabolism and DDI regulatory guidelines is an asset
• Ability to work independently with a minimum supervision, design experiments and report data in written reports and team presentations as required
• The individual is also expected to be highly organized, a team player, enthusiastic about drug discovery, and possess strong communication and collaborative skills

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in conducting radio-labeled ADME studies is preferred
• Hands-on experience in translational PBPK modeling to predict pharmacokinetic based drug interactions is highly desirable
• Publications in peer-reviewed scientific journals is desirable