Stanford and Intonation partner to develop new treatments for neuroendocrine tumors

Stanford University's Innovative Medicines Accelerator (IMA) and Intonation Research Laboratories (Intonation) have formed a collaboration to develop treatments that target cancerous neuroendocrine tumors, or tumors that form from hormone-releasing cells.

The goal of the collaboration is to reduce the time and resources it takes to translate a biomedical breakthrough into a clinically and commercially viable medicine.

I'm excited about this collaboration with Intonation Research Laboratories, which has the potential to speed the translation of promising research into urgently needed new treatments and therapies. This type of partnership goes to the heart of why we created the Innovative Medicines Accelerator -; to connect biomedical researchers with partners so that we can more efficiently translate Stanford discoveries into real impact for society."

Marc Tessier-Lavigne, President of Stanford University

Lloyd Minor, MD, dean of the Stanford School of Medicine, said that the goal of the collaboration, IMA's second in recent months, is to rapidly improve patient care. "We hope to greatly accelerate our drug development program and deliver transformative treatments to patients burdened with neuroendocrine tumors," he said.

Over the next two years, Intonation, led by founder and chairman Suresh K. Jain, PhD, will collaborate on a project that originated in the laboratory of Justin Annes, MD, PhD, associate professor of endocrinology, and advanced in partnership with Mark Smith, PhD, head of medicinal chemistry at Sarafan ChEM-H.

"We have found a unique aspect of neuroendocrine tumor biology that can be leveraged to develop targeted and effective medications," Annes said.

The agreement calls for a close collaboration where the Annes laboratory and Intonation, with the IMA's help, contribute expertise and resources to strengthen foundational intellectual property created at Stanford University. "We want to find partners where we don't just hand it over and be done," said Chaitan Khosla, PhD, the Innovative Medicines Accelerator director and a professor of chemistry and of chemical engineering at Stanford University. "We want to assist the partner so they can run the next leg of the journey."

"Joining forces with Stanford University's IMA is a prime opportunity to collaboratively create innovative treatments for neuroendocrine tumors in an efficient and cost-effective way," Jain said. "Our partnership with a renowned academic institution such as Stanford will reinvigorate and enhance the ecosystem of drug discovery in India."

Khosla said this additional relationship will allow the university to explore new external collaboration models as it attempts to fulfill its stated mission concerning accelerators: to be a more purposeful university. The IMA is evaluating and fine-tuning several additional home-grown projects from Stanford University's principal investigator labs with potential for prototyping highly differentiated new medicines, Khosla said.

"The IMA continues to seek high-quality partners in our mission as an accelerator," said Khosla, the Marc and Jennifer Lipschultz Director of the Stanford Innovative Medicines Accelerator. "And we are excited about engaging diverse partners in helping us scale Stanford-grown solutions."

The collaboration with Intonation follows on the heels of January's announcement that the IMA is initiating a similar agreement with investment firm The Invus Group around another form of cancer, glioblastoma.