Research Associate, Formulation Development (Contract)
- Employer
- 4D Molecular Therapeutics
- Location
- Emeryville, California
- Posted date
- Sep 28, 2026
View more categories
- Discipline
- Regulatory, Science/R&D, Research/Documentation, Biotechnology, Research
- Required Education
- Associate Degree
- Position Type
- Contract
- Hotbed
- Biotech Bay
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Job Details
Attention recruitment agencies: All agency inquiries are vetted through 4DMT’s internal Talent Acquisition team. No unsolicited resumes will be accepted. The 4DMT Talent Acquisition team must expressly engage agencies on any requisition. Agencies contacting hiring managers directly will not be tolerated, and doing so may impact your ability to work with 4DMT in the future.
4DMT is a leading late-stage biotechnology company advancing durable and disease-targeted therapeutics with potential to transform treatment paradigms and provide unprecedented benefits to patients. The Company’s lead product candidate 4D-150 is designed to be a backbone therapy forming the foundation of treatment of blinding retinal vascular diseases by providing multi-year sustained delivery of anti-VEGF (aflibercept and anti-VEGF-C) with a single, safe, intravitreal injection, which substantially reduces the treatment burden associated with current bolus injections. The Company’s lead indication for 4D-150 is wet age-related macular degeneration, which is currently in Phase 3 development, and second indication is diabetic macular edema. The Company’s second product candidate is 4D-710, which is the first known genetic medicine to demonstrate successful delivery and expression of the CFTR transgene in the lungs of people with cystic fibrosis after aerosol delivery
GENERAL SUMMARY
4DMT is seeking a motivated Research Associate, Formulation Development (Contract) to support pre-formulation and formulation development activities for biologic products. This role reports to the Principal Scientist, Process Development. This contract role requires onsite, lab-based work five days per week in Emeryville, California. Primary responsibilities include formulation screening, accelerated stability, forced degradation, material/device compatibility and formulation analytics. Requisites include a B.S. degree, a willingness to learn, good communication skills and a general enthusiasm for science.
MAJOR DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES:
Execute high-throughput, plate-based formulation screening, including formulation preparation, stability studies, sample testing, data analysis, and documentation.
Support prefilled-syringe and other container/device compatibility assessments.
Formulation analytics including but not limited to Size-Exclusion Multi-Angle Light Scattering, Differential Scanning Fluorimetry, Dynamic Light Scattering, pH and osmo testing.
Collaboration with Upstream PD, Downstream PD and AD/QC
QUALIFICATIONS:
Education:
Bachelors of Science Degree
Experience:
0+ years of experience within the Biotech or similar industry
Strong foundational laboratory skills, including accurate pipetting, solution preparation, weighing, basic laboratory calculations, and data organization using Excel.
Hands-on laboratory experience gained through academic research, internships, or industry.
Experience with preformulation, formulation development, stability studies, drug-product process development, or downstream process development is preferred.
Experience with biologics, including proteins, antibodies, or AAV/gene therapy, is a plus.
Other Qualifications/Skills:
Applicant should possess a general competency in Microsoft based applications (e.g., Word, Excel, PowerPoint)
Prior experience with statistical tools (e.g., JMP) or Prefilled Syringe development is preferred, but not required
Travel: This role does not require travel outside of the main office. However, may provide opportunities to travel in future (e.g., to attend conferences or oversee outsourced activities)
Physical Requirements and Working Conditions:
Physical Activity - Repetitive motions: Making substantial movements (motions) of the wrists, hands, and/or fingers. Fingering: Picking, pinching, typing or otherwise working, primarily with fingers rather than with whole hand or arm as in handling. Talking: Expressing or exchanging ideas by means of the spoken word.
Physical Requirements - Lifting up to 20 lbs, bending, lifting, twisting, ability to wear Personal Protective Equipment such as lab coat, goggles/glasses, and nitrile gloves
Working Conditions - The worker is not substantially exposed to adverse environmental conditions (as in typical office or administrative work).
Hourly compensation range: $39.00 - $45.00 / HOUR
Please note, the base salary compensation range and actual salary offered to the final candidate depends on various factors: candidate’s geographical location, relevant work experience, skills, and years of experience.
4DMT provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, marital status, status as a covered veteran, and any other category protected under applicable federal, state, provincial and local laws.
Equal Opportunity Employer/Protected Veterans/Individuals with Disabilities
Company
4DMT is a gene therapy company with a transformative discovery platform --Therapeutic Vector Evolution --that enables our “disease first” approach to product discovery and development, thereby allowing us to customize our AAV vectors to target specific tissue types associated with the underlying disease.
At 4DMT we are creating and developing optimized “biopharmaceutical grade” AAV vectors that will allow us uniquely to unlock the full potential of gene therapy. Our customized and proprietary AAV vectors are each designed, according to a 4DMT Target Vector Profile, to deliver genes to specific cells and tissues in the body to eradicate both rare and large market diseases.
While AAV gene therapy pioneers are making great strides with the first wave of products, hurdles still exist with the use of conventional vectors. The most commonly used AAV capsids (e.g., AAV2, 5, 8 and 9) were identified either 1) as contaminants in lab stocks of adenovirus, or 2) through monkey tissue processing. Therefore, these conventional vectors are not targeted specifically to any tissue in the body. This can lead to inefficient and non-specific delivery, thus requiring extremely high doses and potentially resulting in toxicities (including inflammation), high manufacturing burdens and suboptimal efficacy. In addition, suboptimal routes of delivery can be required for delivery to the right tissues (e.g., subretinal delivery to the retina). Finally, pre-existing neutralizing antibodies in many patients can limit efficacy, clinical trial enrollment and market sizes. 4DMT Innovation empowers us to create new and improved next generation AAV capsids to allow targeted delivery of our products by the optimal clinical route of administration.
At 4DMT we use our robust discovery platform, termed “Therapeutic Vector Evolution,” to create customized and proprietary gene delivery vehicles (novel AAV vectors) to deliver genes to specific tissues and cells in the body by the optimal route of administration. We use the power of evolution to create and refine these optimized vectors through genetic diversification and then natural selection in vivo.
4D Purpose Statement: Boldly Innovating to Unlock the Full Potential of Gene Therapy for Countless Patients
GUIDING PRINCIPLES
Dare to Cure - Patients are waiting. Create big dreams for patients and take calculated risks to achieve them
Break Boundaries - Question the status quo and innovate beyond conventional approaches
Beyond Yourself - It's about patients, their families, our team, our families. We strengthen each other.
Prepare and Execute Relentlessly - Start with the end in mind, over-prepare and make contingency plans to your contingency plans
We invite all of you who share our passion and vision in creating the ultimate gene therapy products to cure genetic and rare diseases in children and adults. We seek the best people in the industry who identify with our mission and innovative results-driven approach. We offer an inspiring and collaborative environment that encourages individual contributions, recognizes performance in multiple ways, offers generous benefits and provides challenging opportunities for career development.
- Phone
- 510-505-2680
- Location
- 5858 Horton St. Suite 455
Emeryville
California
94608