Mount Sinai Launches the i3 Asset Accelerator to Advance the Development of Life-Saving Discoveries
The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and Mount Sinai Innovation Partners today announced the launch of the i3 Asset Accelerator, a new fund that fast-tracks select research discoveries to reach patients sooner, and has selected its first two projects to receive funding in 2018.
“This initiative will foster great discoveries, bringing them to life and to patients in great speed,” said Dennis S. Charney, MD, Anne and Joel Ehrenkranz Dean of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and President for Academic Affairs for the Mount Sinai Health System. The i3 Asset Accelerator is very important to us; it’s what we're all about, taking great science and helping our patients.”
i3 was established with an initial investment of $10 million to advance innovative health care discoveries from Mount Sinai researchers, and philanthropic efforts began to increase its size even prior to its launch. With an advisory team of more than 40 scientists, business professionals, and commercialization experts, i3 provides nascent Mount Sinai technologies with the funding necessary to propel their development jointly with contract research organizations, rapidly develop commercially relevant data, and quickly partner with existing companies, startups, or professional investors through a milestone-based development strategy.
“i3 provides funding to accelerate commercially relevant research,” said Erik Lium, PhD, Senior Vice President of Mount Sinai Innovation Partners. “It allows us to de-risk technology, helps us find more partners, and at the same time generates rewards in terms of patient benefits for the future.”
The two initial projects chosen by i3 represent diverse areas of health care technology:
i) A new treatment for cancer using a novel platform technology to develop new drugs by Ross Cagan, PhD, Senior Associate Dean for the Icahn School of Medicine’s Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences and Professor of Ophthalmology, Oncological Sciences, and Cell, Development and Regenerative Biology, in collaboration with Arvin Dar, PhD, Assistant Professor of Oncological Sciences and Pharmacological Sciences.
ii) The development of new therapies for influenza B viral infections by Florian Krammer, PhD, Associate Professor of Microbiology.
“i3 offers the opportunity for advancing commercially relevant solutions to patients on a global scale,” Dr. Lium said. “i3 is the next step in engaging with our community, building upon our translational competencies, and evolving our commercial ecosystem to create major breakthroughs in health care.”
To learn more about the i3 Asset Accelerator, visit ip.mountsinai.org/about-i3-accelerator.
About Mount Sinai Innovation Partners (MSIP)
MSIP is responsible for driving the real-world application and commercialization of Mount Sinai discoveries and inventions, and the development of research partnerships with industry. Our aim is to translate discoveries and inventions into health care products and services that benefit patients and society. MSIP is accountable for the full spectrum of commercialization activities required to bring Mount Sinai inventions to life. These activities include evaluating, patenting, marketing and licensing new technologies building research, collaborations and partnerships with commercial and nonprofit entities, material transfer and confidentiality, coaching innovators to advance commercially-relevant translational discoveries, and actively fostering an ecosystem of entrepreneurship within the Mount Sinai research and health system communities. For more information, visit www.ip.mountsinai.org.
About the Mount Sinai Health System
Mount Sinai Health System is one of the largest academic medical systems in the New York metro area, with 48,000 employees working across eight hospitals, more than 400 outpatient practices, more than 600 research and clinical labs, a school of nursing, and a leading school of medicine and graduate education. Mount Sinai advances health for all people, everywhere, by taking on the most complex health care challenges of our time—discovering and applying new scientific learning and knowledge; developing safer, more effective treatments; educating the next generation of medical leaders and innovators; and supporting local communities by delivering high-quality care to all who need it.
Through the integration of its hospitals, labs, and schools, Mount Sinai offers comprehensive health care solutions from birth through geriatrics, leveraging innovative approaches such as artificial intelligence and informatics while keeping patients’ medical and emotional needs at the center of all treatment. The Health System includes approximately 9,000 primary and specialty care physicians and 11 free-standing joint-venture centers throughout the five boroughs of New York City, Westchester, Long Island, and Florida. Hospitals within the System are consistently ranked by Newsweek’s® “The World’s Best Smart Hospitals, Best in State Hospitals, World Best Hospitals and Best Specialty Hospitals” and by U.S. News & World Report's® “Best Hospitals” and “Best Children’s Hospitals.” The Mount Sinai Hospital is on the U.S. News & World Report® “Best Hospitals” Honor Roll for 2024-2025.
For more information, visit https://www.mountsinai.org or find Mount Sinai on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
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