Scientist II, Immunopharmacology - Peptide Discovery

Company Description

Abb Vie's mission is to discover and deliver innovative medicines and solutions that solve serious health issues today and address the medical challenges of tomorrow. We strive to have a remarkable impact on people's lives across several key therapeutic areas - immunology, oncology, neuroscience, and eye care - and products and services in our Allergan Aesthetics portfolio. For more information about Abb Vie, please visit us at  Follow @abbvie on X, Facebook, Instagram, You Tube, Linked In and Tik Tok () .

Job Description

Abb Vie is seeking a highly skilled Scientist II to join the Immuno-Pharmacology and Peptide Discovery team within our Immunology Discovery organization. This laboratory-based position supports both IND-enabling and early-stage discovery programs in immunology, offering hands-on experience with in vitro, ex vivo, and in vivo experimentation. The role independently investigates, develops, and optimizes immunological assays and rodent models to evaluate peptide therapeutics, while contributing to both platform and program-level research efforts.

The scientist actively enhances existing workflows, adapts methodologies from literature, and applies scientific rigor in experimental design and data interpretation. The successful candidate will play a key role in integrating experimental pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic (PK/PD) data-including plasma and tissue exposure, as well as receptor occupancy (RO)-to advance translational understanding and optimize dosing for orally delivered peptide therapeutics. Responsibilities include supporting experimental designs that inform quantitative site-of-action models and elucidate dose-exposure-response relationships across tissues and immune compartments.

The position involves harvesting and processing relevant tissues (such as spleen, lymph nodes, GI tissues, and skin), executing cellular and molecular assays, and collaborating across functions to inform biodistribution, RO, and translational model refinement. This role is critical in generating data to support cross-functional, data-driven dosing decisions and in building the PK/PD relationship for peptide therapeutics at Abb Vie.

Responsibilities:

+ Experimental Design & Execution:
Design, execute, and interpret immunological and pharmacological experiments to support IND-enabling and discovery-stage projects across peptide therapeutic programs, collaborating closely with team members.

+ Biodistribution/RO & Dose Response Data Generation:
Collect and analyze plasma and tissue drug exposure and receptor occupancy (RO) data to support dose-exposure-response predictions and inform oral dosing strategies for peptide candidates.

+ In Vivo Immunology:
Work side by side with vivarium personnel to perform adoptive transfer, rodent dosing (mice and rats), issue harvesting and processing for downstream cellular and molecular analysis of immune responses and target engagement in autoimmune models.

+ Immunological Assays:
Execute a variety of immunological assays (e.g., flow cytometry, ELISPOT, co-cultures, cytokine profiling, whole blood assays) to characterize immune responses and evaluate the efficacy of peptide therapeutic candidates.

+ Molecular Techniques:
Conduct RNA isolation, qPCR/digital PCR, and related methods to assess gene expression, cytokine responses, and biomarker modulation.

+ Tissue-Based Insights:
Process lymphoid and barrier tissues (e.g., GI tract, skin, lymph nodes, spleen) for immune profiling and support receptor occupancy and BioD assessments at relevant disease sites.

+ Model-Enabled Experimentation:
Contribute experimental data to support BioD- and PK/PD-driven modeling efforts, including immune cell targeting, dose saturation effects, and target engagement across tissues.

+ Translational Strategy Support:
Help refine experimental designs to address translational knowledge gaps and provide data to support clinical prediction models and regulatory packages.

+ Technical Mastery:
Demonstrate mastery of in vitro, ex vivo, and in vivo immunology techniques, applying these methods to peptide-focused studies to generate robust, reproducible data.

+ Data Analysis (PK/PD):
Interpret pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic (PK/PD) data - including plasma and tissue exposure levels and receptor occupancy - to guide program decisions and optimize peptide therapeutic candidates.

+

Cross-Functional Collaboration:

Collaborate cross-functionally with multidisciplinary teams (e.g., DMPK, pharmacology, chemistry) to integrate experimental findings into broader program objectives and ensure alignment with overall peptide therapeutic development goals.

Qualifications

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Education & Experience:

BS, MS, or equivalent education with typically 7+ (BS) or 5+ (MS) years of relevant industry experience, preferably in biology or a related biological science.

+ Experimental

Skills:

Proven ability to independently design, execute, and interpret critical experiments addressing complex scientific questions in immunology,…