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:
- 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.
- 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."
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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 http://www.ip.mountsinai.org.
About Mount Sinai Health System
The Mount Sinai Health System is New York City's largest integrated delivery system encompassing seven hospital campuses, a leading medical school, and a vast network of ambulatory practices throughout the greater New York region. Mount Sinai's vision is to produce the safest care, the highest quality, the highest satisfaction, the best access and the best value of any health system in the nation.
The System includes approximately 7,100 primary and specialty care physicians; 10 joint-venture ambulatory surgery centers; more than 140 ambulatory practices throughout the five boroughs of New York City, Westchester, Long Island, and Florida; and 31 affiliated community health centers. The Icahn School of Medicine is one of three medical schools that have earned distinction by multiple indicators: ranked in the top 20 by U.S. News & World Report's "Best Medical Schools", aligned with a U.S. News & World Report's "Honor Roll" Hospital, No. 13 in the nation for National Institutes of Health funding, and among the top 10 most innovative research institutions as ranked by the journal Nature in its Nature Innovation Index. This reflects a special level of excellence in education, clinical practice, and research. The Mount Sinai Hospital is ranked No. 18 on U.S. News & World Report's "Honor Roll" of top U.S. hospitals; it is one of the nation's top 20 hospitals in Cardiology/Heart Surgery, Diabetes/Endocrinology, Gastroenterology/GI Surgery, Geriatrics, Nephrology, and Neurology/Neurosurgery, and in the top 50 in four other specialties in the 2017-2018 "Best Hospitals" issue. Mount Sinai's Kravis Children's Hospital also is ranked in six out of ten pediatric specialties by U.S. News & World Report. The New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai is ranked 12th nationally for Ophthalmology and 50th for Ear, Nose, and Throat, while Mount Sinai Beth Israel, Mount Sinai St. Luke's and Mount Sinai West are ranked regionally.
For more information, visit http://www.mountsinai.org or find Mount Sinai on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.