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 seek creative, detail-orientated, scientifically grounded patent attorneys to take our research from the lab and onto the page. This is a unique opportunity to join our team in drafting patents built on cutting-edge novel technology from scratch, defining our IP strategy, and managing our growing patent portfolio. The work will be intellectually challenging, and the hours may sometimes be long, but we guarantee that the job will never be boring.
We are seeking a Manager – IP to join our IP team in Hyderabad.
Responsibilities will include:
Drafting, filing, and prosecuting patent applications across multiple jurisdictions, including India, the US, and Europe
Providing assessments and opinions on patent validity/invalidity, patentability, and freedom-to-operate.
Identifying FTO issues proactively and developing risk mitigation strategies
Managing outside counsel work related to patent prosecution and contested proceedings
Conducting patentability, freedom-to-operate, validity/invalidity & state-of-the-art searches on chemical compounds, lipids, polymers, and peptides, and preparing search reports.
Performing infringement analysis and preparing claim charts and maps
Interacting with multidisciplinary teams involving R&D, Manufacturing, Clinical, and Regulatory and advising on IP issues
The ideal candidate will possess the following qualifications and skills:
A Master’s degree in chemistry with organic chemistry specialisation or a similar field is required.
A patent agent qualification and/or law degree are preferred but not mandatory.
5-8 years of core experience in searching, drafting, and prosecution of patent applications in the chemical or pharmaceutical (API) domain.
Experience handling contested proceedings is preferred, but not mandatory.
A good understanding of US and European patent laws and the regulatory environment
The ability to work well in a team as well as independently pursue tasks and projects when necessary, without close supervision
Complete fluency in English, with excellent oral and written communication skills and an eye for detail
The ability to work in a highly demanding and dynamic environment under challenging timelines
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.