Full-Time
Senior Scientist
Antibody Discovery
Updated on 8/7/2026
Merck
10,001+ employees
Pharmaceutical company developing medicines and vaccines
Compensation Overview
$131.4k - $206.8k/yr
H1B Sponsorship Available
South San Francisco, CA, USA
In Person
Bachelor's, Master's, PhD
 Biology & Biotech (1) |
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- A Bachelor's degree with 7 or more years of relevant experience, a Master's degree with 4 or more years of relevant experience, or a Ph.D. in Biology, Biochemistry, or a related discipline.
- Strong technical expertise with the 10x Genomics Single Cell 5′ V(D)J workflow for antigen-specific antibody isolation, including sample preparation, B-cell sorting, and library generation, or hands-on experience with single-cell antibody platforms for screening immunized B-cell repertoires and recovering antigen-specific antibody sequences.
- Strong hands-on laboratory skills in cell culture, molecular biology, high-throughput screening, assay development, and flow cytometry.
- Significant hands-on experience in antibody discovery, specifically in vivo immunization-based discovery approaches using single B-cell screening and sequencing.
- Ability to manage multiple projects and competing priorities while maintaining scientific rigor and attention to detail.
- Established external reputation through publications, presentations, or scientific community engagement.
- Ability to champion a varied and inclusive culture.
- Design, execute, and lead antibody discovery campaigns using single B-cell discovery workflows.
- Identify and implement opportunities to reduce timelines, improve throughput, and increase operational efficiency.
- Represent the antibody discovery group on multidisciplinary project teams and provide scientific leadership on discovery strategy, screening plans, and candidate progression.
- Stay current with emerging scientific and technological advances relevant to antibody discovery and single-cell platforms.
- Contribute to the external scientific visibility of the Discovery Biologics team through publications, presentations, and scientific engagement.
- Experience with next-generation sequencing approaches and related data interpretation in antibody discovery workflows, including 10x Genomics data.
- Experience managing antibody discovery campaigns.
Merck is a global healthcare company that develops medicines, vaccines, and animal health products. It advances long-term health by conducting research and development to create new treatments for diseases such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and cancer, then brings these medicines to patients, healthcare professionals, and institutions worldwide. The company’s products work by undergoing scientific discovery, clinical testing, and regulatory approval before being manufactured and sold or distributed through patient assistance programs. What sets Merck apart is its large, diversified portfolio across human medicines, vaccines, and animal health, along with a strong emphasis on R&D, global reach, and support services like Merck Connect and Merck Manuals that provide professional resources. Merck’s goal is to tackle major health threats by applying science to discover and deliver therapies that improve patient outcomes and public health across the globe.
Company Size
10,001+
Company Stage
IPO
Headquarters
Kenilworth, Illinois
Founded
1891
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Simplify's Take
What believers are saying
- Q2 2026 revenue rose 5% to $16.61 billion, beating consensus.
- Keytruda family produced $8.37 billion in Q2 2026, including $463 million Qlex.
- Gardasil stabilized to $1.17 billion and Capvaxive rose 40% in Q2 2026.
What critics are saying
- Keytruda U.S. patent expiry in 2028 creates Merck's existential revenue cliff.
- Cidara and Terns charges cut 2026 EPS guidance to $2.66-$2.76.
- Tulisokibart failed SSC-ILD in August 2026, exposing Prometheus's expensive pipeline risk.
What makes Merck unique
- Keytruda Qlex won FDA approval July 10, 2026, extending Merck's PD-1 franchise.
- WINREVAIR grew 75% in Q2 2026, proving Merck builds blockbuster cardiovascular assets.
- CAPVAXIVE gained pediatric FDA expansion August 2026, showing Merck commercializes vaccines quickly.
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↓ -20%Onshoring is here. The hiring wave is still a decade out. By Luke Moran August 4, 2026 Guest Commentary Since 2025, pharmaceutical companies have committed more than $370 billion to build manufacturing in the United States - a response to the threat of steep tariffs on imported drugs and to hard lessons about supply chains. If you have been watching for a hiring surge to match the headlines, you have not seen one. That is not a sign the boom stalled. It is a sign of where Aptamer Innovations is in the cycle. The cranes are up, but the scientists, quality specialists, and process engineers who will run these plants are still a year or two from being hired. The full workforce impact will not spike overnight, but be built steadily over the next decade, and the companies that plan for it now will be the ones ready when it arrives. Where Aptamer Innovations is now: The construction phase. Across major life sciences hubs - Indiana, Virginia, North Carolina, Texas and others - large-scale pharmaceutical plants are under construction. Eli Lilly alone has committed to four new U.S. sites, one of them in Virginia, where Merck & Co. has broken ground on a $3 billion facility. That means demand right now is concentrated in skilled trades, project engineers, and project managers. The scientific process engineers, quality specialists, and regulatory professionals who will ultimately staff these plants come later. This is a phased approach. Building a highly technical, highly regulated pharmaceutical facility takes years, and Aptamer Innovations is in the part of the cycle where the work is physical, not scientific. Companies and their talent partners need to know exactly where they sit in that timeline and plan against it. While permanent facilities are years from operation, companies cannot afford to pause. Supply chain security was the original driver of onshoring. The COVID-19 pandemic exposed how dependent U.S. drug production had become on overseas raw materials and capacity, and the lesson stuck. Contract development and manufacturing organizations (CDMOs) are filling the gap today. With U.S.-based infrastructure, biosafety labs and scalable capacity already in place, they let companies meet supply chain requirements now, without waiting for their own plants to come online. For the interim period, CDMO partnerships are a strategic bridge, not a stopgap. The longer tail: How onshoring reshapes hiring. When the new plants do open, the workforce they need will look different from what many expect. The era of large, labor-intensive manufacturing floors is giving way to automation, AI integration and what the industry calls "lights-out manufacturing." The demand will land in technical roles: automation engineers, process engineers and regulatory specialists. Where traditional production lines remain, the goal is to elevate workers into more sophisticated roles, not to hire by the thousands. Regulation deserves particular weight. Life sciences is a uniquely regulated environment. A drug must meet the same safety and efficacy standards whether it is made in New Jersey or abroad. As companies reshore, they face a dual challenge: deploying advanced automation while maintaining the compliance infrastructure that protects patients. Unlike chip plants or other sectors going through similar automation shifts, a failure in pharmaceutical manufacturing can directly harm the people who depend on the product. The competition for this talent will not happen in a vacuum. Defense contractors, chip makers and biotech firms all want the same automation engineers. Life sciences employers will have to look beyond their usual talent pools, recruit from other regulated industries and invest in workforce development that moves current employees into more technical roles. What could slow this down. Several factors could delay or derail these projects. Cost is the most immediate. U.S. labor is structurally more expensive than the markets companies are leaving, and while automation offsets that over time, the upfront capital is enormous - and it is being spent while existing operations still run. Policy is the variable to watch. In April 2026, the administration imposed Section 232 tariffs of up to 100% on patented pharmaceutical imports, phasing in over the second half of the year. Crucially, companies with manufacturing plans approved by the Commerce Department pay a far lower rate while they build - a direct financial reward for onshoring, but one that depends on regulatory guidance still taking shape. The rules around AI in regulated manufacturing are evolving too. Talent itself could become the bottleneck. If the competition for automation engineers outruns the training pipelines meant to supply them, companies may find they cannot staff the plants they have built. And timing is the subtlest risk of all: companies that run too lean during construction - cutting costs while waiting for demand - risk losing the institutional knowledge they will need when the ramp-up comes. The case for aligning now. The companies best positioned when onshored manufacturing comes online are the ones building strategic partnerships today. That takes patience and honesty about timelines. The money is committed and the buildings are going up. What has not arrived is the workforce, and it will not arrive all at once. The opportunity ahead - in oncology, in GLP-1 therapies, in personalized medicine - is real. Getting there means building not just the facilities, but the people power to run them. Luke Moran is the executive director of life sciences at Actalent, a global leader in engineering and sciences services and talent solutions.
Ebola: CEPI expands vaccine lineup, Moderna shot enters clinical. August 5, 2026 Hilleman Laboratories has joined the roster of CEPI-supported companies developing vaccines against Bundibugyo ebolavirus (BDBV). CEPI announced last week that it will provide the Singapore-based joint venture between Merck and Wellcome with up to $8.5 million to develop a recombinant vesicular stomatitis virus (rVSV)-based candidate. Assuming the candidate succeeds in early trials, the partners "are committed to swiftly transferring the vaccine technology to a large-scale vaccine manufacturer to produce additional doses," the statement said. Existing partnership: The funding builds on a separate $30 million CEPI-funded initiative from January backing Hilleman's efforts to update the manufacturing process for Merck's WHO-prequalified Ervebo Ebola vaccine to boost yield and improve thermostability. * Hilleman will adapt the updated manufacturing process to accelerate the BDBV candidate's path to clinical trials, per the press release. Second vaccine hits clinical: In other BDBV news, Moderna's mRNA-1469 has become the second CEPI-backed BDBV vaccine candidate to enter Phase 1 testing after Oxford University's ChAdOx1 shot, which began human testing in mid-July. CEPI announced Monday that Moderna's mRNA-based shot will be evaluated in healthy adults at three sites in Canada. * If licensed, Moderna has committed to making at least 500,000 doses of the jab available for timely supply to LMICs "under access pricing," the statement said. Trial readiness database: Meanwhile, in collaboration with Africa CDC, CEPI has published a database of 45 African clinical trial units' readiness to conduct Phase 1 trials of BDBV vaccines. The public resource will help connect African research institutions with vaccine developers.
Q2 2026 financials: Blockbusters lift pharma, vaccines wobble. August 5, 2026 Below is its look at the slew of earnings announcements since its last issue. Figures exclude exchange rate and portfolio changes where applicable. SANOFI SALES CLIMB Sanofi's second-quarter sales rose 17.8% to $13.4 billion, prompting the company to lift its full-year growth forecast to "around 10%." Anti-inflammatory blockbuster Dupixent did much of the heavy lifting: sales jumped 37.6% and surpassed $6 billion in a quarter for the first time. Prevention products slip: Sanofi's vaccine sales fell 4.7% to about $1.3 billion, mainly driven by lower sales of meningitis, travel and endemic vaccines as well as influenza shots (combined revenue from flu and Covid-19 vaccines plunged 61.7%). * On the positive side, recently acquired hepatitis B vaccine Heplisav-B contributed $131.4 million in quarterly sales and AstraZeneca-partnered Beyfortus grew 54.2% (to $125.6 million). * Sanofi expects vaccine sales to edge lower for the full year, including a low- to mid-teens decline in Q3 as respiratory vaccine revenue shifts into Q4. Pipeline reset: Sanofi's net income plunged 91.3% after roughly $1.2 billion in impairment charges, mostly tied to amlitelimab - an eczema antibody acquired through its $1.1 billion purchase of Kymab - which the company recently said will not advance to global filing. * Inflammatory-disease drugs itepekimab and balinatunfib were also discontinued. Credibility hit: New CEO Belén Garijo acknowledged that Sanofi had, for a time, "overpromised and under-delivered," but pledged to restore credibility through "focused decision making, discipline, and executing with a sense of urgency." GILEAD ENJOYS HIV-POWERED JUMP Gilead's second-quarter revenues jumped 10% to $7.8 billion, led by a 12% increase in HIV product sales to $5.7 billion. PrEP milestone: The company's PrEP business surpassed $1 billion for the first time, comprising $232 million from twice-yearly injectable Yeztugo (lenacapavir) - up from $15 million in its launch quarter a year earlier - and an estimated $801 million from Descovy's use for HIV prevention. By the numbers: Gilead raised its full-year HIV growth forecast to 9%-10%, citing a $4 billion annualized PrEP run rate and continued strength of HIV treatment Biktarvy. CANCER PRODUCTS DRIVE MERCK SALES Merck's Q2 sales increased 4% to $16.6 billion. Cancer immunotherapy Keytruda and its subcutaneous formulation, Keytruda Qlex, generated a combined $8.4 billion - more than half of the company's total sales - while sales of pulmonary hypertension drug Winrevair surged 75% to $588 million. Vaccine ups and downs: Sales of Merck's MMR and varicella vaccines fell 3% to $592 million amid softer U.S. demand, though CFO Caroline Litchfield said the company's portfolio continued to perform relatively well within a declining U.S. vaccine market, per Reuters. * Gardasil HPV vaccine sales rose 3% to $1.2 billion after multiple consecutive quarters of year-over-year declines. * Sales of Merck's 21-valent PCV Capvaxive jumped 40% to $184 million. Looking ahead: Merck raised full-year 2026 revenue guidance to $66.3 billion-$67.3 billion. ALSO NOTED BioNTech's second-quarter revenue plunged 59.5% to $121.9 million as demand for Covid vaccines continued to weaken. The German company lowered its 2026 guidance to $1.8 billion-2.2 billion from $2.3 billion-2.7 billion, but expects to rebound in the second half of the year, thanks to a $708 million BMS collaboration payment. BioNTech also named Sobi CEO Guido Oelkers as its next chief executive - succeeding BioNTech co-founder Ugur Sahin - with the handover set for no later than February 2027. BMS' Q2 revenue rose 5% to $13 billion. Its growth portfolio climbed 14% to $7.6 billion, or 59% of sales. Despite Pfizer-partnered anticoagulant Eliquis rising 21% to $4.5 billion, legacy products fell 5% to $5.4 billion. BMS raised full-year revenue guidance to $49 billion-$50 billion. Sales at LG Chem's life sciences division jumped 9.5% to $259.7 million, driven by higher export volumes. However, the company expects third-quarter profitability to slip, partly because some vaccine shipments have been delayed until Q4. Moderna's second-quarter revenue nudged up 2% to $145 million, with lower Covid vaccine sales offset by higher "stand-ready manufacturing" and collaboration revenue. The biotech is leaning on partnerships with the U.K., Canadian and Australian governments - alongside cost cuts and portfolio expansion - to "support growth amid an uncertain U.S. regulatory environment for vaccines," per Reuters. Novo Nordisk's adjusted quarterly sales rose 7% to $12.1 billion, driven by GLP-1 volume growth across geographies and favorable U.S. rebate adjustments in the quarter. The Danish drugmaker raised its full-year outlook for the second time this year, to a range of 0% to -6% from the -4% to -12% set in May.
Merck's $10.8B Prometheus deal delivers another win - plus a Phase 2b miss. August 4, 2026 | The anti-TL1A antibody from Merck's 2023 Prometheus buy delivered positive mid-stage results in a skin condition but failed in a certain type of lung disease, the Big Pharma revealed alongside second-quarter earnings. Merck has recorded a loss and a win for the experimental anti-TL1A antibody it picked up in its nearly $11 billion immunology buyout of Prometheus Biosciences a few years back. The asset, a monoclonal antibody known as tulisokibart, failed to meet the main goal of a Phase 2 trial for patients with systemic sclerosis-associated interstitial lung disease (SSC ILD), according to Merck's second-quarter earnings release shared Tuesday. The miss has prompted the New Jersey-based pharma to discontinue the study. Merck didn't share data behind the fail but said no new safety concerns were identified. The study enrolled 154 patients and lists three safety measures and one efficacy goal as primary endpoints. The Big Pharma also reported a win for tulisokibart in a skin condition called hidradenitis suppurativa (HS), announcing that the Phase 2b trial met its primary and key secondary endpoints. Merck was mum on the details but said it would share the full results at an upcoming medical conference. The study enrolled 147 patients and measured the percentage of participants with an over 50% reduction in skin abscesses and inflammatory nodules. Merck picked up tulisokibart in 2023 when it acquired Prometheus for $10.8 billion. Also known as MK-7240, tulisokibart was the centerpiece of the deal, with its main promise expected as treatment for of ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn's disease. Given its intravenous route of administration, Merck's tulisokibart will likely "need to be meaningfully improved" over Roche's afimkibart, which can be given subcutaneously, BMO Capital Markets analysts said. Both assets are being tested for ulcerative colitis. June 23, 2026 Earlier this summer, Merck reported a Phase 3 victory for tulisokibart in UC, sharing that the anti-TL1A antibody helped patients achieve clinical remission, without revealing any data. Given the lack of information, analysts remained cautious about the asset's prospects, also citing potential competitive overhangs. For example, Roche picked up the anti-TL1A antibody afimkibart in its $7.1 billion Telavant acquisition in 2023. "With Merck's tulisokibart administered by IV and Roche's afimkibart administered subcutaneously in the induction setting, tulisokibart's efficacy would likely need to be meaningfully improved vs. afimkibart to be competitive and support strong preferential uptake if approved," BMO analysts wrote in June. Merck is also developing a subcutaneous formulation of tulisokibart for maintenance treatment, which BMO noted "could help lessen such headwinds to uptake." "We look forward to the upcoming readout of the larger induction and maintenance study, which, together with the induction-only study, would form the basis of a regulatory filing and will be presented at an upcoming scientific congress," Merck R&D head Dean Li said on an Aug. 4 investor call. He added that the UC late-stage results "reinforce the potential of targeting TL1A to help address immunofibrosis, a key driver of disease progression across multiple immune-mediated inflammatory conditions." Li framed the Phase 2 studies as an exploration of the anti-TL1A hypothesis, citing a broad development program across radiographic axial spondyloarthritis, psoriatic arthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. "The positive readout for HS gives us more confidence in the derm possibilities for this drug, and so that's where we're looking at," Li said on the call's Q&A portion. When pressed on the failure in SSC ILD, he said, "I would just step back. I don't know any anti-cytokine that has worked. So, this was a bold move to move that forward. It's a challenging and refractory disease." Merck's once-daily pill is the first oral PCSK9 inhibitor to hit the market for high cholesterol, beating AstraZeneca in the race to develop more accessible treatment options. July 16, 2026 A narrow beat. Overall, it was a clean quarter with key launches demonstrating traction, according to a Tuesday note from BMO analysts. Merck reported $16.6 billion in sales, up from the expected consensus estimate of $16.37 billion. The pharma also narrowed and raised its sales guidance for the 2026 fiscal year to a midpoint of $66.8 billion, up slightly from $66.4 billion. Earnings per share (EPS) estimates narrowed to $2.66-$2.76, taking into account a hefty negative impact related to the $6.7 billion Terns buyout that closed in the second quarter. The pharma had previously expected its 2026 EPS to range from $5.04 to $5.16. Merck's beats stemmed from faster-than-expected conversions to Keytruda Qlex, the subcutaneous formulation of the blockbuster cancer therapy traditionally delivered intravenously. A 20% beat over consensus estimates for oncology product Welireg gave Merck an additional boost. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease med Ohtuvayre also served as "a bright spot," up 19%, according to Guggenheim analysts. Meanwhile, newly approved Enflonsia for RSV fell short of consensus estimates by 84%, but BMO analysts said the launch was still early and "initial revenue lumpiness is expected." Merck's acquisition of Terns Pharmaceuticals follows other big-ticket purchases, including of Verona Pharma and Cidara Therapeutics, as the pharma prepares for the impending expiration of its blockbuster's patents. March 25, 2026
Merck raised its 2026 revenue forecast to between $66.3 billion and $67.3 billion, up from a previous range of $65.8 billion to $67 billion. However, the company cut its adjusted earnings outlook to $2.66 to $2.76 per share, down from $5.04 to $5.16, due to one-time charges totalling $14.7 billion related to acquisitions of Terns and Cidara Therapeutics. For the second quarter, Merck reported $16.61 billion in revenue, up 5% year-over-year. Keytruda generated $8.37 billion in sales, whilst newer drugs showed strong growth. Winrevair sales reached $588 million, up 75%, and Capvaxive posted $184 million, up 42%. The company is acquiring businesses to offset upcoming generic competition for several drugs, including Keytruda in 2028.