Co-Founder, Immune Strategies for Paediatric Cancer (Open Application)

This is an open application for expressions of interest. Active recruitment for the role will begin in Q4 2024.

ABOUT DSV

Deep Science Ventures is creating a future in which both humans and the planet can thrive.

We use our unique venture creation process to create, spin-out and invest into science companies, combining available scientific knowledge and founder-type scientists into high-impact ventures.

We operate in 4 sectors: Pharmaceuticals, Climate, Agriculture and Computation, tackling the challenges defining those areas by taking a first principles approach and partnering with leading institutions.

OUR PARTNERSHIPS

We are building a consortium, including a partnership with Innovate UK, the UK’s national innovation agency, to create a new venture with a focus on novel approaches in combating childhood cancer. You will have the opportunity to work hand in hand with the team at DSV, as well as gain support from industry experts and key opinion leaders in designing strategies with curative therapeutic potential for paediatric oncology patients.

ABOUT THE ROLE

At DSV we’re looking for future Founders, entrepreneurially minded individuals with industry-specific technical and commercial domain expertise eager to solve urgent unmet challenges through venture building.

You will join DSV’s venture creation programme as a Co-Founder in Residence and work closely with the DSV team, using our methodology, to spin-out a new company. During the programme, you’ll work on all aspects related to venture creation in this opportunity area, including working out the optimal approach to solve for the desired outcome, building a team and building a viable business case. Once the new venture is incorporated with pre-seed investment from DSV, you and your co-founders will own the majority stake in the business and continue receiving support from the DSV team post-spinout.

THE OPPORTUNITY AREA

Although rare, paediatric cancers have a large collective impact, and remain one of the leading causes of death in children and adolescents. Drugs specifically designed for paediatric indications are limited: fewer than a dozen novel paediatric-specific therapies have been developed in the past 45 years, whilst for adult cancers, an average of twelve new drugs reach the market every year. Children are often treated using the same modalities as adult cancer patients, with 35% of FDA-approved adult targeted therapies having been repurposed for novel off-label uses for paediatric patients. However, childhood cancers differ greatly from their adult counterparts - incidence rates, initiator and driver mutations, overall mutational burdens, as well as the immune response all vary between these two groups. Moreover, some cancer drugs affect child and adolescent development, and their long-lasting side effects are particularly problematic when treating young people.

Children have a less mature, more innate-like immune system than adults, which, coupled with the low mutational burden and neoantigen load in paediatric tumours, renders them less capable of mounting an effective anti-tumour immune response. Moreover, solid tumours in paediatric patients are heavily infiltrated by tumour-associated macrophages (TAMs), with few tumour-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs). These characteristics explain why certain immunotherapeutic approaches which aim to stimulate the host’s immune response, such as immune checkpoint blockade, have been largely unsuccessful in children.

We believe there is a significant scientific and commercial opportunity to revolutionise the way we treat paediatric cancer patients. Can we harness the highly innate-driven immune system of children to create novel approaches to combat these tumours? Are there alternative approaches in which we could supplement or modify the adaptive arm of the immune system, alone or in combination? By exploiting the unique characteristics of paediatric immunity and developmental biology, can we devise optimal strategies to prevent or cure disease across multiple indications, simultaneously?

Requirements

WHO SHOULD APPLY

Essential (must-have):

• You have minimum PhD level experience in immunology, cancer biology, or immuno-oncology
• You are highly motivated by unsolved challenges in paediatric oncology, including the use of immune-related strategies, and are driven to transform the way we approach these challenges
• You are innovative, creative, and guided by first-principles thinking
• You have clear entrepreneurial spirit (likely demonstrated through impactful innovation), and the desire to create (or have experience creating) a company aiming to develop curative solutions for paediatric cancer
• Understanding of the biology of childhood cancers and paediatric immunology

Preferred (nice-to-have):

• Expertise in paediatric oncology and/or paediatric immunology
• You have industry experience in either pharma, biotech, scientific start-ups, life sciences consulting, life sciences VC, or have previously been an inventor/contributor on patents, etc.
• Track record of high quality publications in the field

Benefits

OUR OFFER

By joining DSV, you’ll be joining a team of operators who have founded companies and led translation of science at some of the most respected universities, charities, funds and government agencies. 2/3 of the team have founded or led a company at C-suite and 65% have a PhD. Our team dedicate significant time to each Founder or founding team to provide tailored guidance, resources and feedback covering every aspect of what it takes to successfully launch a new venture from both the tech and commercial perspectives:

• We provide optimised, purpose-built, proprietary tools, resources and processes to help create high-impact ventures from scratch, using our venture creation methodology. Read more about one of our key tools here.
• We draw on opportunity area specific know-how provided by our network of Partners and Advisors;
• We provide up to £250k investment, from DSV and other investment partners, governed by our Investment Committee to incorporate the new venture and develop early proof-of-concept data that’s needed to attract high profile non-venture studio VCs. This funding is also key to get grant funding, which most often needs to be matched with private investment;
• We provide guaranteed income of £4,166 per month paid to each Founder in Residence as a consultancy fee until the company is launched and the pre-seed investment is secured;
• You and your co-founders will own a majority equity stake in the company;
• We provide continuous support after post spin-out, including fundraising, commercial partnerships, recruitment and team-building (amongst other things); plus
• There are dozens of Founders currently at DSV across sectors working collaboratively and supporting one another - a unique resource to draw on.