Isaac Stoner is the newly appointed CEO of MindImmune Therapeutics, a University of Rhode Island spinout company working to develop novel treatments for Alzheimer’s and other neurodegenerative diseases.
PBN: What did your pathway to life sciences entrepreneurship look like?
STONER: I am a career company builder, having had the unique opportunity to join a Providence-based life sciences company as the first hire after an undergraduate education at Brown [University].
While this first company was not a smashing success, I was hooked and have now been on the early/founding team of four biotech companies. MindImmune makes five. At this point, I'm pretty comfortable with the wild pace and intense ups and downs of an early-stage biotech company.
PBN: Earlier this year, you described your decision to close your former company, Octagon Therapeutics, after encountering “a scientific no-go” despite successful business operations. What did you take from your experience at Octagon, and how will it inform your actions with MindImmune Therapeutics?
STONER: Biotech is a brutal business. You can execute perfectly, make the right decisions, run the right studies, raise the right capital, and still confront a scientific reality that your drug doesn't work. You can't fool biology.
The best biotech management teams are able to execute efficiently to specific milestones and are clear-eyed when looking at the results. Nobody wants to waste time and investor dollars on a drug that will not help patients. I hope to be able to bring the same pragmatic approach to MindImmune and I am optimistic that MITI-101 will be a huge win for Alzheimer's patients.
PBN: How did you connect with MindImmune, and what attracted you to your new role as the company's CEO?
STONER: I have had a long relationship with the Slater Technology Fund, based in R.I. They were the first investor in the very first company I joined, Genome Corp., and a major investor in Octagon Therapeutics' seed round.
For the past year, I have been an entrepreneur in residence on the Slater team. Through that experience, I became intimately familiar with the MindImmune science and strategy and offered to help.
MindImmune is, effectively, an immunology-first neurodegeneration company with a very strong investor base and a top-tier scientific team. I feel fortunate to have been given the opportunity to lead the company into early human clinical trials.
PBN: Your previous company was based in Cambridge, Mass. What differences do you expect to encounter working from a lab headquartered in Rhode Island?
STONER: Rhode Island has a lot going for it. Human capital, scientific thought leadership at Brown and URI, and brand-new facilities supported by the state.
MindImmune has already proven that we can recruit top talent from Boston/Cambridge. However, I think it's important for us to avoid being insular. Cambridge is only 45 minutes away; it's going to be key for us to access the larger biopharma companies based outside of Rhode Island. There is nothing wrong with being a part of the dominant Boston biopharma cluster, and we intend to build bridges rather than competing.
PBN: What are your major goals for MindImmune in the next year?
STONER: In 2026, we anticipate getting a green light from the FDA [Food and Drug Administration] to begin human trials and will be dosing our first patients in a phase one clinical trial.
MindImmune will also be raising a larger financing round to get through a human efficacy study and will be expanding our research team to continue building on our important discoveries.
