Company Description
Bicycle Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing a novel class of medicines, referred to as Bicycle® molecules, for diseases that are underserved by existing therapeutics. Bicycle molecules are fully synthetic short peptides constrained with small molecule scaffolds to form two loops that stabilize their structural geometry. This constraint facilitates target binding with high affinity and selectivity, making Bicycle molecules attractive candidates for drug development. The company is evaluating zelenectide pevedotin (previously BT8009), a Bicycle® Toxin Conjugate (BTC®) targeting Nectin-4, a well-validated tumor antigen; BT5528, a BTC targeting EphA2, a historically undruggable target; and BT7480, a Bicycle Tumor-Targeted Immune Cell Agonist® (Bicycle TICA®) targeting Nectin-4 and agonizing CD137, in company-sponsored clinical trials. Additionally, the company is developing Bicycle® Radio Conjugates (BRC™) for radiopharmaceutical use and, through various partnerships, is exploring the use of Bicycle® technology to develop therapies for diseases beyond oncology.
Bicycle Therapeutics is headquartered in Cambridge, UK, with many key functions and members of its leadership team located in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Culture is key and all Bicycle employees actively embrace and role model our company values:
- We are Adventurous. We believe it’s the way to deliver extraordinary results for our patients.
- We are Dedicated to our Mission. You can’t change the world if you don’t have determination.
- We are One Team. We only succeed when we work together.
Job Description
This is an exciting opportunity for a Director, Legal with significant contractual experience in partnering transactions in the life sciences sector to join our growing Legal team. This is a global role, reporting to the Vice President, Legal based in the UK.
In this fast paced, commercially focused, and highly collaborative environment, you will partner with our Business Development team and will also act as a trusted legal adviser throughout the business at various levels of seniority.
You will play a pivotal role in the organisation’s growth strategy by negotiating strategic licensing, partnering, collaboration and R&D agreements and also provide a variety of legal support across the business.
Key Responsibilities:
- Act as the legal lead with respect to strategic licensing, partnering, collaboration, R&D and related agreements as well as commercial contracts such as manufacturing, supply and distribution arrangements.
- Collaborate with internal stakeholders, to implement the overall licensing and partnering strategy of the business and structure and negotiate critical transactions accordingly.
- Collaborate cross-functionally to ensure successful implementation of strategic agreements.
- Support the business with ad hoc general legal support as required, including other contractual negotiations and corporate.
- Stay updated on industry best practices and contribute to the continuous improvement of the development and licensing process.
- Acquire detailed understanding of the technologies, products, intellectual property and R&D activities of the business
- Engage with external counsel as required.
- Interact with colleagues in the UK and US on a daily basis.
Qualifications
Essential:
- Qualified lawyer with at least 10 years post qualification experience (PQE), at least 3 years in-house experience in a life sciences company.
- An extensive and demonstratable background working within the Biotech or Pharmaceuticals industry.
- The ability to navigate complex intellectual property, business, operational and legal issues.
- Exceptional stakeholder engagement and deal team management.
- Cross-jurisdictional experience at a senior level.
Desirable:
- Excellent communicator with proven technical and organisational skills, with the ability to be open and candid whilst demonstrating respect for others and cultivating a culture of inclusion and trust.
- Accustomed to working under pressure to meet challenging deadlines and be able to thrive in a fast-paced, complex, and rapidly changing environment, adapting to different business needs (operational, transactional, and structural) in the context of a growing global company.
- An eye for detail and be meticulous in your work but be willing to work as part of a team engaging with and supporting colleagues to create well-considered and pragmatic, risk-based approaches to problems and enhanced team contribution.
- Display sound thoughtful business judgement and strategic thinking, with a balanced commitment to process and continuous improvement and a demonstrated ability to earn the confidence of senior executives as a trusted advisor.
- Ability to build strong and lasting relationships with internal clients and offer pragmatic and sensible advice.
- Dedicated and enthusiastic, with the ability to work efficiently with a commitment to good outcomes for the company and willingness to get involved wherever there is a need.
Additional Information
- Flexible working environment
- Competitive reward including annual company bonus
- Medical, dental, and vision insurance for eligible employees and their families with 100% of the premiums covered by the Company
- Health and Dependent Care Flexible Spending Accounts
- 401(k) plan with a 4% Company match and immediate vesting
- Eligibility to accrue up to 23 paid time off days per full year worked, plus the option to buy up to 5 additional days
- Employee assistance program
- Employee recognition schemes
- 10 Company holidays
- Competitive Family Leave Policy
- Eligibility for an option grant to subscribe to shares in Bicycle Therapeutics plc.
Bicycle Therapeutics is committed to building a diverse workforce that is representative of the communities we serve. We recognize that diverse and inclusive teams build a stronger and more innovative company. Therefore, all qualified applicants will be considered for employment, and we do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, colour, gender, sexual orientation, age, disability status, marital status, or veteran status.
What We Do
We are Bicycle Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company. We didn’t wait for the next advance against cancer. We created it.
Based on groundbreaking work conceived in the laboratory of Sir Greg Winter with the help of Professor Christian Heinis, we are pioneering the development of bicyclic peptides, or Bicycles® – a novel class of versatile, chemically synthesized medicines. Bicycles are fully synthetic short peptides constrained to form two loops which stabilize their structural geometry. This constraint is designed to confer high affinity and selectivity, and the relatively large surface area presented by the molecule allows targets to be drugged that have historically been intractable to non-biological approaches. Bicycles represent a unique therapeutic class, combining the pharmacological properties normally associated with a biologic with the manufacturing and pharmacokinetic advantages of a small molecule, yet with no signs of immunogenicity observed to date.
Bicycles can be used as Bicycle conjugates to deliver toxin payloads and to precisely target local immune activation within tumors and as Bicycle T-cell modulators, which activate cytotoxic T-cells while circumventing the limitations of antibody and biologic therapies and better enabling combination therapy. Our lead product candidate, BT1718, is a Bicycle toxin conjugate currently being investigated in a Phase I/IIa open label dose escalation and expansion clinical trial sponsored by Cancer Research UK. BT1718 targets Membrane Type 1 Matrix Metalloproteinase (MT1-MMP), also known as MMP-14, which is highly expressed in many solid tumors.
Our strategic collaborations are based on the ability of Bicycles to address a wide variety of targets. Through collaborations with AstraZeneca, Oxurion, Innovate UK and the Dementia Discovery Fund, we work with companies that have deep therapeutic expertise outside of oncology to enable us to more efficiently develop novel medicines for patients.
