About Us
A Leader in Innate Immunity
At IFM Therapeutics, LLC, we are transforming immunotherapy to improve the lives of patients with serious diseases. We focus on developing small molecule drugs that precisely target the innate immune system, the body’s first line of immunological response.
The majority of advances in immunotherapy have focused largely on targeting the adaptive immune system, which historically has been the best-characterized part of the immune system. While many of these approaches can work well, the benefit is seen only in a small number of diseases and over time, patients can lose response to these therapies. However, our understanding of the innate immune system has matured sufficiently, that we can now think about exploiting this biology to advance a new generation of medicines for inflammatory disorders and cancer. IFM Therapeutics, LLC has brought together the key academic thought leaders and advisors in this field, along with an exceptionally talented group of pharmaceutical scientists and executives, to make this goal a reality.
IFM Therapeutics, LLC was formed following the acquisition of IFM Therapeutics by Bristol-Myers Squibb in 2017. IFM Therapeutics, LLC retained its personnel and facilities, as well as its remaining research programs focused on curbing immune responses that lead to inflammatory diseases and fibrosis.
By focusing on innate immunity, IFM Therapeutics, LLC is looking to solve the limitations faced by current immunotherapies by dramatically increasing the number of patients that benefit from treatment and extending the duration of therapeutic response.
About the IFM Model
IFM is pursuing a number of separate programs, each targeting key control nodes of the innate immune system. IFM places each program (or set of related programs) in its own dedicated, independently financed, R&D-focused subsidiary company, which is supported by the common infrastructure, management team and resources of the IFM enterprise. This model allows IFM to provide more focused research and development support to each program, while also distributing shared central resources among subsidiary companies to maintain a lean, capital-efficient operating structure.
IFM was formed following the acquisition of the original IFM Therapeutics, Inc. by Bristol-Myers Squibb in 2017. IFM retained its personnel and facilities, as well as all of its remaining research programs in innate immunity. To-date, the Company has established two subsidiaries: IFM Tre, which launched in July 2018 and was subsequently acquired by Novartis in May 2019, and IFM Due, which launched in February 2019.
Experts with an Unprecedented Track Record
Since the inception of IFM, we have advanced multiple, novel programs from discovery to first-in-human studies and beyond.
The IFM Team Has an Unprecedented Track Record
Among the team's achievements in the company's first 3.5 years has been the progression of 3 novel programs from the standing start through to the clinic and the closing of 2 major deals.
2015
October
IFM founded by G. Glick and seed-financed by Atlas Venture to discover agonists of NLRP3 for cancer.
2016
FEBRUARY
Novel and proprietary NLRP3 agonist leads identified
MAY
Novel and proprietary STING agonists discovered
JUNE
IFM's $27M Series A closed
2017
SEPTEMBER
Preclinical PoC for both NLRP3 and STING agonists demonstrated
SEPTEMBER
$2.32B sale of IFM Uno to BMS closed; IFM Therapeutics, LLC created as a spin-out, and IFM Tre launched
2018
FEBRUARY
BMS dosed initial patient with first-in-class NLRP3 agonist, IFM-1222
JULY
IFM Tre's $31M Series A financing closed (focus on NLRP3 antagonist)
2019
FEBRUARY
IFM Due launched (focus on cGAS/STING antagonists)
MARCH
IFM Tre dosed initial subject with first-in-class NLRP3 antagonist, IFM-2427
APRIL
BMS dosed first patient with STING agonist, IFM-1364
MAY
$1.575B sale of IFM Tre to Novartis closed
NOVEMBER
IFM Quattro and IFM Discovery launched with $55.5M financing from Omega Funds, Atlas Venture and Abingworth
Meet Our Leadership Team
We have assembled a tailor-made team with proven expertise in developing transformative medicines that will further our goal of bringing the most promising immunotherapies to patients with inflammatory diseases and cancer.
H. Martin Seidel
Dennis Dean
Michael P. Cooke
William R. Roush
Ed Olhava
Gary D. Glick
H. Martin Seidel
Jean-François Formela
John Leonard
Shelley Chu
Paulina Hill
Vincent Miles
Michael Gladstone
Otello Stampacchia
Gary D. Glick
Luigi Franchi
Matthias Geyer
Eicke Latz
Anthony Opipari
Andrea Ablasser
Matthias Geyer, PhD
Eicke Latz, MD, PhD
Michael Heneka, MD
Director, Department of Neurodegenerative Diseases and Gerontopsychiatry, University Hospital, University of Bonn
Jonathan C. Kagan, PhD
Professor of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School
Shwachman Chair in Gastroenterology, Staff Scientist, Boston Children's Hospital
Vito Palombella, PhD
Chief Scientific Officer, Surface Oncology
Andrea Ablasser, MD
Seth Masters, PhD
Associate Professor, Head of the Inflammasomes and Autoinflammatory Disease Laboratory, Walter and Eliza Hall Medical Institute
Florian I. Schmidt, PhD
Group Leader, Institute of Innate Immunity, University of Bonn
Awards and Nominations
At IFM Therapeutics, we're proud of our team's achievements in science and industry.
