Company Summary:

Laronde is an early-stage biotechnology company with the mission to become the leader in the development of nucleic acid medicines by leveraging its multi-modality eRNA platform. Our modular Endless RNA™ (eRNA) platform, will be supported by a large-scale digital and manufacturing infrastructure with the bold vision of 100 new medicines within the next decade. With eRNA, we’re making new therapeutics that will become essential medicines of the future to address unmet needs across multiple disease areas. Check out www.laronde.bio for more information on our vision.

Laronde was founded by Flagship Pioneering, a team of entrepreneurial scientists that conceives, creates, resources and grows first-in-category life sciences companies. Since 2000, Flagship has created over 100 groundbreaking companies pioneering novel and proprietary biological, industrial and engineering approaches to solve major needs in human health and sustainability. These companies include Moderna Therapeutics (MRNA), Seres Therapeutics (MCRB), Syros Pharmaceuticals (SYRS), Rubius Therapeutics (RUBY), Evelo Biosciences (EVLO), Kaleido Biosciences (KLDO) and Indigo Agriculture.

Position Summary:

Laronde is seeking a creative, motivated Principal Scientist to develop eRNA purification platform to enable both low vol. and HTP scale-out process and large vol. scale-up for IND enabling studies and clinical supplies. The candidate will develop purification approaches to produce drug substance of appropriate quality attributes. The candidate will interface with the Platform, Scale-out / Scale-Up process development team and Analytical development teams to enable harmonization of processes for scale out (preclinical test agent) and scale up (clinical supplies). The candidate will also investigate the scalability of the process and a path to establishing a platform process across all programs. We are searching for driven, enthusiastic and self-motivated individuals who can drive the various aspects of the platform.

Key Responsibilities:

• Lead scientists and research assistants to development of novel downstream eRNA purification platform to enable scalable and scale-out capability to deliver highly pure drug substance
• Manage direct reports to develop novel first in class purification processes to drive IND and clinical success.
• Design, lead and drive experiments for screening, optimization and scale-up purifications of RNA by leveraging DoE, chromatography and filtration separations including TFF
• Apply and develop state-of-the-art technologies and solutions using novel processes and translatable industries.
• Develop, refine and deploy unit operations for enzymatic reactions; characterize enzymatic reactions using first principles
• Lead the process development activities to support the scale-out efforts to develop reliable scale down processes for high-throughput construct screening experiments.  
• Co-develop characterization methods with analytical team to assess quality of the material
• Write protocols and prepare reports and presentations that support drug substance and drug product clinical development.
• Troubleshoot lab workflows, maintain equipment and support IND enabling manufacturing batches
• Collaborate effectively across development, analytical and scale-out teams to drive scientific initiatives. 

Qualifications:

• PhD 5 – 7 years of experience or BS + 12, MS +9 years industry experience or equivalent in bioengineering, chemical engineering, biology, virology, biochemistry or related field
• Development experience on novel therapeutics-focused technology platforms and modality is preferred.
• Experience delivering on strategic timelines and executing successful on corporate goals
• Expertise in nucleic acid synthesis, purification, enzymes, manufacturing, analytics and/or formulation
• Hands on experience using separation instruments like HPLC, AKTA and TFF is preferred
• Experience and/or understanding in nucleic acid chemistry, enzuymatic reactions, PCR, plasmid processing and standard analytical techniques such as CGE is preferred. 
• Eager to work with highly skilled and dynamic teams in a fast-paced, entrepreneurial and technical environment
• Strong written and verbal communication and highly effective collaboration skills across operations and development teams.