ABOUT THE ROLE
You will be joining a new company founded via a venture creation partnership between Deep Science Ventures and AbbVie, to be based in the London area. The technology we're building has been based on devising and de-risking a novel nucleic acid-based approach to restore immune tolerance via promoting the reprogramming of pathogenic tissue-resident memory cells to tolerogenic cells. The company is now seeking a scientist with expertise in immunology and T cell biology to help progress its novel approach. By joining at this stage, you will be driving the key experimental work required to achieve early stage milestones, optimising the preclinical development of this exciting approach. The company is continuing to expand its scientific leadership team and already has a strong and growing advisory board. DSV and AbbVie teams will continue to provide support post-spinout.
THE OPPORTUNITY AREA
Immune-mediated inflammatory diseases (IMIDs) afflict 3-7% of the global population, presenting a significant clinical and economic challenge. With projections indicating the global market for anti-inflammatory drugs could reach £165 billion annually by 2030, the urgency for curative therapies has never been more pronounced. Despite advances in biologic treatments transforming the IMID treatment landscape over recent decades, these therapies often yield suboptimal results, benefiting only a subset of patients while fostering drug resistance or causing significant side effects.
The complexity of IMIDs, rooted in an intricate interplay of genetics and environmental triggers, continues to elude complete understanding. This complexity underscores the limitations of current therapeutic strategies and the pressing need for innovative approaches that offer genuine cures and sustainable drug-free recovery.
WHAT WE ARE BUILDING
In collaboration with AbbVie, we are pioneering a groundbreaking venture aimed at harnessing cellular reprogramming to surmount the challenges of IMIDs. Our innovative approach focuses on selectively and sustainably promoting immune tolerance by reprogramming pathogenic T cells—those implicated in driving disease in certain IMIDs. This strategy not only targets the elimination of the problematic cell population but also leverages their reprogramming potential to regulate inflammation and ultimately cure the disease.
This venture represents a significant departure from traditional selective depletion strategies that, while effective in some contexts (e.g., Alemtuzumab for multiple sclerosis and Rituximab for systemic lupus erythematosus), overlook the transformative potential of in situ cellular reprogramming. Through the development of novel nucleic acid vectors, we aim to unlock naturally occurring tolerance mechanisms to provide durable, disease-specific therapies.
Our ambition is to deliver solutions that achieve sustained remission and cure for individuals affected by IMIDs. By combining DSV's venture creation prowess with AbbVie's therapeutic expertise, we are uniquely positioned to drive this project forward, mark a new chapter in the treatment of inflammatory diseases, and create lasting impact in the fight against these debilitating conditions.
We are looking for a passionate and motivated scientist with strong immunological expertise and track-record in immunology, to drive forward the science of this early-stage biotech. The successful candidate will be a key player in:
WHO SHOULD APPLY
Essential (must-have):
Preferred (nice-to-have):
OUR OFFER:
ABOUT DSV
Deep Science Ventures is creating a future in which both humans and the planet can thrive.
We use our unique venture creation process to create, spin-out and invest into science companies, combining available scientific knowledge and founder-type scientists into high-impact ventures.
We operate in 4 sectors: Pharmaceuticals, Climate, Agriculture and Computation, tackling the challenges defining those areas by taking a first principles approach and partnering with leading institutions.