Tectonic Therapeutic - Homepage - Tectonic Therapeutic (2024)

Prior to founding Vida Ventures, Stefan was an investment professional at Third Rock Ventures, an early-stage life sciences venture capital firm. At Third Rock, he was part of the founding team of Decibel Therapeutics, a hearing-focused drug discovery and development platform company.

Before Third Rock, Stefan was an investor at TPG Capital, where he focused on majority, control stakes in healthcare companies. Stefan worked on a variety of equity and debt financings, including Aptalis Pharma and Biomet. Prior to TPG, Stefan was an investment banker at Credit Suisse’s healthcare banking group.

Stefan received his B.S. with Honors in Biological Sciences at Stanford University. He completed his M.S. in Biology at Stanford, where he conducted biomedical research in the lab of Dr. Helen Blau at Stanford Medical School. Stefan later received his MBA from Harvard Business School. Stefan currently serves on the Board of Directors for Praxis Precision Medicines (“PRAX”). He was previously a Board Director or Observer at Kyverna Therapeutics, Oyster Point Therapeutics (“OYST”), Dyne Therapeutics (“DYN”), Sutro Biopharma (“STRO”).

Phillip Donenberg brings more than 25 years of leadership expertise in finance, mergers and acquisitions and operations focused in the life sciences, biotech and pharmaceutical industries. He currently serves as Board Director and Audit Chairman of Taysha Gene Therapies. His background includes recent experience with a gene therapy company, AveXis, Inc., where he served as the Chief Financial Officer and Senior Vice President until July 2018, following its $8.7 billion acquisition by Novartis.

Phillip has held leadership roles overseeing strategic transactions, finance management and accounting operations, controls and reporting processes for growing life sciences companies in the Chicago area. Most recently, he was Chief Financial Officer and Senior Vice President of Jaguar Gene Therapy, LLC. Phillip earned a bachelor’s degree in accountancy from the University of Illinois, and he is a Certified Public Accountant.

Relaxin is an endogenous peptide hormone, expressed at low levels in both men and women. In normal human physiology, relaxin is upregulated during pregnancy where it exerts vasodilative effects, reduces systemic and pulmonary vascular resistance and increases cardiac output to accommodate the increased demand for oxygen and nutrients from the developing fetus.

Relaxin also exerts antifibrotic effects on pelvic ligaments to facilitate delivery of the baby. It has long been hypothesized that these unique dual aspects of relaxin biology may offer therapeutic potential in the treatment of cardiovascular disease.

TX45 is an Fc-relaxin fusion molecule that activates the RXFP1 receptor, the GPCR target of the hormone, relaxin.

While the natural hormone is rapidly cleared by the human body, TX45 has been engineered to deliver pharmacologically active levels of relaxin with infrequent dosing. It is currently under development as a potential treatment for Group 2 Pulmonary Hypertension (PH) in the presence of Heart Failure with Preserved Ejection
Fraction (HFpEF).

TX45 leverages relaxin’s multiple modes of action with the potential to deliver several beneficial effects.

Relaxin’s acute pulmonary and systemic vasodilatory activity has the potential to decrease systemic and pulmonary vascular resistance, unload the left ventricle and increase stroke volume and cardiac output. Its ability to increase renal blood flow may also help improve renal function, which can be compromised in PH-HFpEF patients.

Relaxin’s biological remodeling, anti-fibrotic and anti-inflammatory effects could promote reverse remodeling of the left ventricle in HFpEF, and potentially reverse deleterious changes in the pulmonary vasculature present in CpcPH.

Its ability to relax the heart muscle could also improve diastolic filling in HFpEF where cardiac hypertrophy and fibrosis lead to diastolic dysfunction and heart failure. These benefits could also extend to IpcPH patients and thus to the entire Group 2 PH/HFpEF population.

While there are no approved treatments for HHT, anti-VEGF therapies have been used with some benefit to patients, underscoring the potential for anti-angiogenic intervention in this disease. These therapies have been shown to reduce angiogenesis and bleeding in mouse models of HHT and importantly, based on data from investigator-sponsored studies, also shown to reduce epistaxis episodes and transfusion dependence in patients. These results suggest that targeting an alternative pathway that could more specifically regulate angiogenesis, may be a productive strategy to address HHT.

HHT stems from loss-of-function mutations in proteins in the BMP9/10-Endoglin-ALK1-SMAD4 signaling pathway. BMP9 is a member of the TGF-beta family of growth factors that regulate blood vessel development. Development candidate selection is ongoing for an antagonist to a GPCR that with its ligand has been described to play a role in angiogenesis and AVM formation.

The ideal candidate is a well-organized and adaptable team player who will maintain processes to discover novel biologic therapeutics. This position will contribute to multiple drug discovery activities using molecular biology, Next Gen Sequencing analysis, and liquid handling robotics. A demonstrated ability to learn new skills, an attention to detail, and independence in problem solving are vitally important qualities for this role. Experience in developing antibody clones against membrane proteins, such GPCRs, is highly desirable.

About Tectonic Therapeutic

Tectonic is a privately held biotechnology company that aims to transform the discovery of novel GPCR-targeted drugs and unlock the therapeutic utility the most challenging receptors in the class. Tectonic’s founders are at the forefront of scientific research in biochemistry and molecular pharmacology with an extensive track record of entrepreneurial achievement.

Professional Responsibilities:

• Serve as a key contributor to the discovery of antibodies to therapeutic targets
• Perform high throughput cloning of antibodies and target constructs
• Use automation and liquid handlers for plate-based processes
• Use LIMS and database tools for sample tracking and processing
• Perform NGS sample preparation, quality control and loading of instrument
• Maintain supply inventories for cloning and liquid handling processes
• Maintain a detailed and accurate electronic lab notebook

Position Requirements:

• B.A. or B.S. or M.Sc. in Biology or related discipline
• 1-3 years of experience in high throughput molecular biology in an academic or industry setting
• Experience with DNA cloning, Gibson Assembly and E. coli transformation
• Hands-on experience with Excel and other applications for managing tables of data
• Working knowledge of bioinformatics tools and their use in sequence analysis
• Experience with robotics and liquid handlers is highly desirable

The Scientist/ Sr. Scientist, Protein Chemistry will be a versatile and highly collaborative team player who has a deep understanding of protein chemistry, biophysical characterization, and structural analysis. Hands on experience with purification of soluble enzymes and/or antibodies is required but the ideal candidate would be adaptable, engaged, and creative protein scientist. The successful candidate will contribute to our core research capabilities and development of our GPCR platform.

The candidate would support a novel protein engineering project and assist in the purification/characterization of therapeutic antibodies to GPCR targets. This position represents a unique opportunity for the successful applicant to join an innovative start-up at the heart of the Boston biotech ecosystem and contribute to its long-term success.

About Tectonic Therapeutic:

Tectonic is a privately held biotechnology company that aims to transform the discovery of novel GPCR-targeted drugs and unlock the therapeutic utility of the most challenging receptors in the class. Tectonic’s founders are at the forefront of scientific research in biochemistry and molecular pharmacology with an extensive track record of entrepreneurial achievement.

Professional Responsibilities:

• Develop and implement construct designs and strategies for optimal expression/purification
• Manage CRO activities related to enzymatic activity assays, analyze results, and contribute to timely reporting
• Assist in the design and implement assays for manufacturability assessment leading to clinical candidate selection
• Contribute to development and execution of assays with techniques such as DSF, ITC, and SPR in support of the engineering project and core platform
• Develop high throughput purification strategies using robotic liquid handlers
• Potentially support membrane isolation, detergent extraction, and purification of GPCRs to be used as antigens in discovery campaigns
• Maintain a detailed and accurate lab notebook

Position requirements:

• Ph.D. in Biophysics, Biochemistry, or related discipline with demonstrated track record of scientific achievement in protein research
• Experience optimizing protein purification, and biochemical/biophysical characterization
• Proficiency with affinity, size-exclusion, and ion exchange purification on AKTA FPLC and analytical chromatography on Agilent HPLC/UPLC desired
• Past success in implementation of high throughput protein purification strategies using robotics preferred
• Proficient communication skills and ability to work both independently and in teams
• Keen attention to detail and ability to prioritize work on multiple projects, timelines and company goals
• Desire to quickly learn new skills and adapt to new challenges in a rapidly developing startup environment

Interested applicants may write to jobs@tectonictx.com with attached cover letter and CV in PDF format. Please include the job reference ID in the subject line.

We are an equal opportunity employer. All applicants will be considered for employment solely on the basis of on business needs, job requirements and individual qualifications, without attention to age, race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran or disability status.

The Scientist/ Sr. Scientist, Membrane Protein Chemistry will be a versatile and highly collaborative team player who has a deep understanding of protein chemistry, biophysical characterization, and structural analysis. Hands on experience with purification of integral membrane proteins for structural biology is required but experience purifying GPCRs is preferred. The successful candidate will contribute to our core research capabilities and development of our GPCR platform.

The candidate would support screening and engineering of antibodies to GPCR targets and assist in the biophysical characterization of lead therapeutic candidates. This position represents a unique opportunity for the successful applicant to join an innovative start-up at the heart of the Boston biotech ecosystem and contribute to its long-term success.

About Tectonic Therapeutic:

Tectonic is a privately held biotechnology company that aims to transform the discovery of novel GPCR-targeted drugs and unlock the therapeutic utility of the most challenging receptors in the class. Tectonic’s founders are at the forefront of scientific research in biochemistry and molecular pharmacology with an extensive track record of entrepreneurial achievement.

Professional Responsibilities:

• Develop and implement strategies for optimal receptor expression/purification
• Contribute to target profiles through detailed literature evaluation and experimental characterization of receptors
• Perform membrane isolation, detergent extraction and purification of GPCRs to be used as antigens in discovery campaigns and functional assays
• Contribute to development and implementation of new technologies to support the GPCR platform
• Assist in the design and purification of antibody-based therapeutics that target the desired GPCR function
• Implement assays for manufacturability assessment leading to clinical candidate selection
• Contribute to development and execution of assays with techniques such as DSF, ITC, and SPR
• Maintain a detailed and accurate lab notebook

Position requirements:

• Ph.D. in Biophysics, Biochemistry, or related discipline with demonstrated track record of scientific achievement in research of multi-pass membrane proteins
• Experience optimizing membrane protein expression, detergent extraction, purification, and biochemical/biophysical characterization
• Thorough understanding of the state of the art in GPCR structural biology highly desired
• Experience with affinity, size-exclusion, and ion exchange purification on AKTA FPLC and analytical chromatography on Agilent HPLC/UPLC desired
• Proficient communication skills and ability to work both independently and in teams
• Keen attention to detail and ability to prioritize work on multiple projects, timelines and company goals
• Desire to quickly learn new skills and adapt to new challenges in a rapidly developing startup environment

Interested applicants may write to jobs@tectonictx.com with attached cover letter and CV in PDF format. Please include the job reference ID in the subject line.

We are an equal opportunity employer. All applicants will be considered for employment solely on the basis of on business needs, job requirements and individual qualifications, without attention to age, race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran or disability status.