PopVax is an Indian full-stack biotech building first-in-class and best-in-class vaccines and cancer immunotherapies using machine learning-driven design and relentless empiricism. We design, develop, and manufacture our own RNA medicines end-to-end because we believe great pharmaceutical science can only flourish in tight feedback loops that iterate rapidly. PopVax’s experimental work and clinical dose production is based at the RNA Foundry, our integrated R&D and GMP-capable clinical dose production facility in Hyderabad.

PopVax's north star is our goal of developing novel vaccines and therapeutics over the next decade with the cumulative ability to save 1 million lives each year – the Million Lives Mission. To that end, we are developing first-in-class vaccines against Hepatitis C Virus, Strep A, and adult pulmonary TB, broadly-protective best-in-class vaccines against COVID-19, influenza, and HPV, and precision immunotherapies against hard-to-treat solid tumours such as liver cancer and pancreatic cancer.

Our work is funded by Vitalik Buterin’s Balvi Fund, the Gates Foundation, the US Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), and Renaissance Philanthropy. Our first vaccine program will begin a Phase I clinical trial in the US in mid-2026 conducted & sponsored by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). We intend to put 6 novel vaccines and immunotherapies into Phase I clinical trials over the next 3 years.

No matter the job title, each person’s role at PopVax is ultimately focused on helping take safe & effective new medicines that represent a step-change improvement on the current standard-of-care to the people who need them as fast as possible. If you want to work where the ambition is high, the learning curve is steep, and the work matters to billions, you’ll feel at home here.

If you’re excited by the idea of advancing scientific, clinical, and regulatory frontiers of vaccines and immunotherapies, spending each day developing medicines with the potential to save millions of lives, and building a generational global pharmaceutical company in India along the way – join us!

We are looking for an experienced organic synthesis chemist to work on novel organic compounds, including lipids, nucleosides, nucleotides, and small molecule APIs, who is able to obtain quality results both independently and within a team environment with minimal supervision. The focus is on bench chemistry — the design, execution, and iterative optimzation of a large number of different multi-step organic synthesis processes.

RESPONSIBILITES

• Design the route of synthesis for and performing multistep organic synthesis and analysis of novel small molecules, nucleosides, nucleotides and lipids

• Perform chemical purification using a variety of techniques, including various kinds of chromatography

• Perform analysis of chemical compounds using methods such as HPLC, TLC, NMR, and mass spectrometry

• Document all experiments comprehensively and precisely in a step-by-step manner

• Maintain a safe and clean lab environment while following all relevant laws and regulations relevant to the experiments being performed

• Help the manufacturing team design and transfer scaled-up versions of synthetic procedures originated in the lab to production facilities

QUALIFICATIONS

• PhD degree with 1+ year of experience or or masters degree with 3+ years of experience, with both academic and industry experience focused strongly on organic synthesis

• Rock-solid theoretical and practical understanding of organic chemistry and structure

• Demonstrated competence with the design and execution of complex synthetic procedures for de novo molecules, ideally with prior experience in lipid synthesis in particular

• Prior experience with the synthesis of nucleosides and nucleotides would significant plus

• Proficiency with software for molecule design and editing such as Avogadro or ChemDraw

• Demonstrated ability to work independently with minimal supervision

• Experience with setting up and operating HPLC, GC, and LC-MS equipment, as well as analysing results from a wide variety of analytical procedures and machines

• Excellent written and oral communication skills in English, proficiency with word processing software such as Google Docs or Microsoft Office, and an ability to independently conceptualise and write comprehensive reports on the state of ongoing work whenever requested

• Experience with organic synthesis or analytical chemistry in a manufacturing environment, especially a cGMP environment, is a significant plus

We offer very competitive compensation, comprehensive health insurance covering immediate family (including pre-existing conditions), and, most importantly, a collaborative work environment focused on solving the cutting-edge multidisciplinary challenges of our novel mRNA platform.