Roche fosters diversity, equity and inclusion, representing the communities we serve. When dealing with healthcare on a global scale, diversity is an essential ingredient to success. We believe that inclusion is key to understanding people’s varied healthcare needs. Together, we embrace individuality and share a passion for exceptional care. Join Roche, where every voice matters.

The Position

In Roche’s Pharmaceutical Research and Early Development organisation (pRED), we make transformative medicines for patients in order to tackle some of the world’s toughest unmet healthcare needs. At pRED, we are united by our mission to transform science into medicines. Together, we create a culture defined by curiosity, responsibility and humility, where our talented people are empowered and inspired to bring forward extraordinary life-changing innovation at speed. This position is located in ADME, a chapter within the PS function, where the fate of new chemical entities and biologics is a primary focus. The ADME Chapter works throughout all stages of compound development, from lead optimization to candidate selection, all clinical  development phases to filing of new drug applications. We closely collaborate with our therapeutic areas and functions to convert hypotheses into innovative therapeutics.

Job Mission:

Drug-drug interactions (DDI) caused by co-administration of several drugs often result in changes of the plasma concentrations of the victim drug by induction or inhibition of its metabolism or transport by the perpetrator drug. This can lead to reduced efficacy or toxicity. Therefore, assessing the risk of DDIs to occur with a drug under development is crucial before entering clinical studies. The fraction of a drug metabolised by specific cytochrome P450 (CYP) enzymes relative to total hepatic metabolism (fm,CYP) is one of the major factors determining the magnitude of drug interactions and the impact of polymorphisms on total clearance in clinics. Time-dependent inhibition (TDI) of CYP enzymes is an important mechanism contributing to perpetrator DDIs.

During the internship in enzymology and drug-drug-interaction (DDI), you will generate experimental data in order to validate the enzyme reaction phenotyping and the time-dependent inhibition (TDI) assay. The main focus will be to 1) evaluate effectiveness of chemical inhibitors used for in vitro CYP phenotyping and/or 2) validate TDI assays for non-CYP3A enzymes.

Project goals:

You will learn how to develop, optimize and validate in vitro methodologies to support drug-drug interaction risk assessment of drug candidates.

You will gain hands-on experience in state-of-the art methodologies (e.g. quantitative LC-mass spectrometry, in vitro techniques, application of automation technology)

You will understand the importance of victim and perpetrator enzyme-mediated DDI risk assessment in drug development
 

Who you are:

You are a current or recently (within 12 months) graduated M.Sc. candidate with a background in pharmacy, biochemistry, pharmacology or molecular biology 

You are eager to learn in vitro assay techniques to evaluate drug metabolism disposition and are comfortable with experimental trouble shooting.

You are familiar with common digital tools (e.g. Microsoft Office, R studio, GraphPad Prism etc.) for experimental planning, execution, evaluation, data archiving and reporting.

You have strong communication skills and the ability to work in a team. A proactive and strategic thinking style to promote the project is preferred.

You are able to work independently with minimal supervision and have the ability to solve problems in an innovative way.

Proficiency in English is required and ability to communicate in German or French is an asset. 

Duration: 6-12 months - starting from April 2025. 

Application

Your complete application includes the following documents:

A current CV and a Motivation Letter

A certificate of enrollment (if you are currently studying)

For Non-EU/EFTA citizens: Due to regulations, you must provide a letter from your university stating that an internship is mandatory for your studies and specifying the required length of the internship. Please upload this letter, along with your enrollment certificate, CV, and motivation letter.

We look forward to receiving your application!

Who we are

At Roche, more than 100,000 people across 100 countries are pushing back the frontiers of healthcare. Working together, we’ve become one of the world’s leading research-focused healthcare groups. Our success is built on innovation, curiosity and diversity.

Basel is the headquarters of the Roche Group and one of its most important centres of pharmaceutical research. Over 10,700 employees from over 100 countries come together at our Basel/Kaiseraugst site, which is one of Roche`s largest sites. Read more.

Besides extensive development and training opportunities, we offer flexible working options, 18 weeks of maternity leave and 10 weeks of gender independent partnership leave. Our employees also benefit from multiple services on site such as child-care facilities, medical services, restaurants and cafeterias, as well as various employee events.

We believe in the power of diversity and inclusion, and strive to identify and create opportunities that enable all people to bring their unique selves to Roche.

Roche is an Equal Opportunity Employer.