Scientist, Drug Metabolism and Pharmacokinetics (DMPK)

About Us 

Kardigan is a heart health company working to make cardiovascular disease preventable, curable and no longer the leading cause of death in the world.

It is Kardigan’s mission to develop multiple targeted treatments in parallel that bring people with cardiovascular diseases to the cures they deserve.

Led by Tassos Gianakakos, Jay Edelberg, M.D., Ph.D., and Bob McDowell, Ph.D., Kardigan’s co-founders have reunited after leading MyoKardia to discover and develop mavacamten, the first cardiac myosin inhibitor, resulting in an acquisition by Bristol Myers Squibb in 2020.

We have a cutting-edge discovery and translational research platform, a pipeline of late-stage candidates, and an industry-leading team that is driven to improve the lives of patients.

At Kardigan, we are motivated by our values which guide how we work, interact, and achieve our goals. Driven by patients and their families, we are deeply committed to improving the lives of patients and prioritizing their needs above all else. We believe in being authentic—leading with truth to bring out the best in others by creating an environment where every person knows they will be fully accepted. With an eagerness to learn, we encourage the highest levels of curiosity and are open to changing our minds. We are committed to winning as a team with urgency, excellence, and intention, and support each other no matter what role we play or where we sit. Lastly, we strive to enable the impossible because patients are counting on us. We are not afraid to take risks to unlock innovation and advance scientific discoveries.

These values are the foundation of our work, empowering us to make a real difference, every day.

Position Title: Scientist, Drug Metabolism and Pharmacokinetics (DMPK)

Department: Discovery Research

Reports To: Principal Scientist, DMPK

Location: South San Francisco, CA – On-site 4 days per week (Mon to Thurs)

Job Overview

Kardigan is looking for a highly motivated and detail-oriented DMPK Scientist to join our dynamic research team. This role offers a unique opportunity to contribute to both early-stage discovery and later-stage development by generating high-quality ADME/PK data to support our small molecule drug pipeline. The ideal candidate will bring hands-on expertise in bioanalysis, in vitro assay development, and mass spectrometry, along with a collaborative spirit and a passion for scientific excellence.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

Key Responsibilities will include lab-based duties, but are not limited to the following:

• Develop in vitro assays and independently generate high quality data to support drug discovery and development
• Perform bioanalysis of structurally diversified small molecules for in vitro assays and develop fit-for-purpose sample preparation protocols and analytical methods by liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry
• Execute, analyze, and interpret in vitro drug metabolism assays to understand the ADME properties of small molecules in supporting discovery and development programs
• Culturing, testing, and validating cell or assay systems and ensuring cleanliness of labs
• Bioanalysis of pharmacokinetic samples and determination of pharmacokinetic parameters
• Maintain good documentation practices including laboratory notebooks, protocols, and reports writing; present data in team/project meetings as necessary
• Maintain and manage research databases, ensuring data integrity, accuracy, and accessibility
• Develop and document assay protocols for chemistry, biology, and DMPK studies
• Upload, organize, and QC assay data, ensuring accuracy and consistency

Qualifications and Preferred Skills

• Highly motivated individual has a Ph.D. in pharmaceutical sciences, chemistry, bioanalysis, or biomedical science related fields with 0 – 3 years of experience or with at least 5 years (M.S. degree) or 8 years (B.S. degree) industrial/ academia experience.
• Demonstrate excellent verbal and technical communication, independent thinking, with the ability to interpret results, determine next steps and present data.
• Ability to work in a team oriented, innovative and fast-paced environment focusing on discovery and development of new drugs for treatment of cardiac diseases.
• Experience as a project representative is a plus.
• Expertise and experience in one or more of the following areas are required:
  1. Experienced in development of LC-MS-based analytical methods and sample preparation for small molecule analysis. Proficient in operation, maintenance and troubleshooting for high end scientific instrumentation, including general liquid handling equipment, Thermo Orbitrap Q-Exactive, Exploris 240 HRAMS, Sciex or Thermo triple-quad mass specs is highly desired.
  2. Hands-on experience in culturing primary and recombinant cell lines, developing cell-based and in vitro drug metabolism assays.
  3. Prior experience and knowledge in drug metabolism assays (i.e. metabolic stability assays in liver microsomes and hepatocytes, protein binding, cytochrome P450 inhibition assays and bioanalysis of PK samples), PK modeling programs such Phoenix Winnonlin, SimCyp and DMPK concepts to support ADME studies are a plus.

• Experience with research databases (e.g., CDD Vault)

Exact Compensation may vary based on skills, experience and location.

Pay range

$135,000—$160,000 USD