Pliant Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company and leader in the discovery and development of novel integrin-based therapeutics. Based in South San Francisco, California, Pliant was founded in 2015 to develop therapeutics to modulate specific pathways upregulated or dysfunctional in certain diseases. Our approach involves developing novel integrin-based therapeutics to treat solid tumors and other diseases.

Integrins are a crucial link between a cell's internal structure and its external environment and function in cell signaling, regulation and adhesion as well as wound healing and immune response. Founded by a team of world-renowned researchers from the University of California, San Francisco, this group discovered key insights into the integrin biology and developed small molecule therapeutics to target this devastating disease process. Launched in 2016 by Third Rock Ventures, a leading healthcare venture capital firm, Pliant has developed an industry-leading proprietary library of over 15,000 integrins that serve as a key driver to its portfolio.

We believe our platform may be broadly applicable across multiple disease areas including delivery of drug payloads to cells utilizing integrin receptor-binding molecules as tissue-specific delivery and internalization mechanisms. Currently, Pliant is conducting a Phase 1 study of PLN-101095, a small molecule, dual-selective inhibitor of αvß8 and αvß1 integrins, that has shown encouraging clinical activity in the development of a treatment of immune checkpoint resistant solid tumors. Description Reporting to the SVP of Research, the Senior Scientist I, Medicinal Chemistry will bring deep expertise in medicinal chemistry and will play a key role in advancing a pipeline of novel therapeutics enabled by integrin biology and targeted delivery strategies.

This role will lead the design and optimization of drug candidates that leverage integrin-mediated delivery to selectively target tissues and cell types.

Responsibilities

Design and drive medicinal chemistry strategies for integrin-targeted therapeutics and delivery-enabled small molecules Utilize Structure-Activity Relationships to prioritize hypotheses, set design criteria, and guide external synthesis efforts Evaluate and interpret complex datasets and translate findings into clear, actionable design decisions Collaborate closely with biology, structural biology, DMPK, and translational teams to integrate insights into compound design and program strategy Prioritize and manage multiple tasks to ensure timelines and deliverables are met Maintain high-quality documentation and data management practices Present data and strategy clearly to internal teams and senior leadership Contribute to intellectual property strategy and filings Foster a collaborative, innovative, and high-performance research culture

Qualifications

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty.

Requirements

listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, abilities, and prior experience required.

Preferred Qualifications

Experience with antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs), linker-payload systems, or other targeted delivery modalities Demonstrated ability to integrate biology-driven insights into chemistry strategy, including payload selection and receptor-media