Principal Safety Pharmacologist

With over 35 nationalities and a range of backgrounds represented in our Benevolent team, we aim to build an inclusive environment where our people can bring their authentic selves to work, be respected for who they are and the exceptional work they do. We welcome and actively encourage applications from all sections of society and are committed to offering equal employment opportunities regardless of sex, race, religion or belief, ethnic or national origin, marital, domestic or civil partnership status, sexual orientation, gender identity, parental status, disability, age, citizenship, or any other basis. We see our diversity as an asset as we tackle challenging problems that bridge the gap between drug discovery and technology.

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The Role

Determination of the potential safety risk/benefits of newly identified targets and AIchemopt compounds being progressed by BenevolentAI (BAI) is of paramount importance. A new role of safety pharmacology/science expert is required to provide significant support to our growing portfolio of small molecule drug discovery programs and disease deployments. The safety pharmacologist will work across multiple small molecule based drug discovery and disease target identification/validation programs, being responsible for identifying potential toxicology/safety risks, for developing and implementing safety/toxicology risk mitigation strategies and studies to address these risks.

This role can be based from either Cambridge or London, depending on your preference.

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Primary Responsibilities

Coordinate with key stakeholders, e.g. small molecule drug discovery core teams, target identification leads, the discovery enabling team, project management and external CROs, to ensure that safety strategies/studies are developed/implemented within the expected timelines for multiple projects and deployments.
Working within multiple small molecule drug discovery projects, develop and implement safety strategies and studies to understand the potential toxicology risks associated with key BAI compounds.
Working within multiple small molecule drug discovery projects, develop and implement risk mitigation strategies to facilitate compound progression through the pipeline or such that unsafe compounds can attrite earlier.
Provide detailed safety risk assessments of validated targets, contributing to decision making regarding progression or not into the small molecule drug discovery portfolio.
Provide forward looking strategies for validated targets entering the small molecule drug discovery portfolio that will address the potential target safety risks identified in emergent compounds at the appropriate time for lead optimization and/or candidate selection milestones.
Provide top level guidance to leadership on adverse event profiles of and tolerability to existing medications for diseases under consideration for analysis with BAI’s target identification platform.
Provide safety pharmacology interpretation/guidance/documentation for key internal project reviews, investor erooms, and investigator brochures (for programs that are advancing to the clinic).

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Additional Responsibilities

Identify areas for improvement in BAI technology assessment of safety risks associated with emerging targets/compounds
As the role evolves the recruitment and leadership of a small safety pharmacology team may be required

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We are looking for someone with

3+ years of extensive experience of safety assessment across multiple targets classes, from early target identification (TID) right through to candidate nomination in small, medium or large pharma/biotech.

Proven ability to multitask in organising, coordinating and interpreting multiple safety studies across different projects at the same time.
Working knowledge of the best CROs for performing safety studies.
Working knowledge of appropriate data sources for target safety assessments.
Working knowledge of regulatory requirements as they pertain to preclinical safety assessment of small molecules inclusive of GLP and non-GLP studies.
A good knowledge of other aspects of drug discovery (e.g. DMPK, medicinal chemistry) as they pertain to safety pharmacology.

Nice to have but optional

Experience of safety assessment for all target classes in multiple therapeutic areas from TID to compound preclinical development in small, medium and large organisations
A PhD is desirable but not essential if significant experience of working in safety pharmacology is indicated (+ 5 years)

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We share a passion for being part of a mission that matters, and we are always looking for curious and collaborative people who share our values and want to be part of our journey. If that sounds like a fit for you, hit the apply button and join us.

About us

BenevolentAI unites AI with human expertise to discover new and more effective medicines. Our unique computational R&D platform spans every step of the drug discovery process, powering an in-house pipeline of over 25 drug programmes. We advance our mission to reinvent drug discovery by harnessing the power of a diverse team, rich with different backgrounds, experiences, opinions and personalities. In our offices in London and New York and research facility in Cambridge (UK), we work in highly collaborative, multidisciplinary teams, harnessing skills across biology, chemistry, engineering, AI, machine learning, informatics, precision medicine and drug discovery.

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