Intima Biosciences

What Intima Biosciences does

Intima Biosciences is a clinical-stage, privately held oncology company headquartered in New York with an additional R&D office at the Babraham Research Campus in Cambridge, UK. The company is developing curative-intent immunotherapies for solid tumor cancers by targeting CISH (Cytokine-Inducible SH2-containing protein), an intracellular immune checkpoint that negatively regulates T-cell receptor signaling and is not addressed by current surface-targeting drugs such as PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors. Its core technology platform combines CRISPR/Cas9-edited tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) used as a clinical proof-of-concept model with a parallel oral small molecule program designed to drug the traditionally undruggable CISH protein-protein interaction.

Intima conducted a first-in-human clinical trial (NCT04426669) at the University of Minnesota Masonic Cancer Center under Principal Investigator Dr. Emil Lou, enrolling 12 heavily pretreated metastatic colorectal cancer patients. Results presented at AACR 2025 and published in The Lancet Oncology showed an acceptable safety profile (no high-grade cytokine release syndrome or ICANS) and one durable complete response ongoing for more than three years in a young adult patient refractory to multiple prior lines of therapy. Based on this proof-of-concept, the company is advancing an oral small molecule CISH inhibitor intended to enable broad, democratized access to CISH checkpoint inhibition beyond autologous cell therapy.

Intima is pre-revenue and currently monetizes only through future product sales upon regulatory approval. Its go-to-market is enterprise- and event-driven, leveraging peer-reviewed publications, AACR-style conference presentations, and KOL partnerships (notably with Memorial Sloan Kettering's Dr. Christopher Klebanoff) to build scientific credibility ahead of clinical and commercial scale-up. The company has 11–50 employees, an undisclosed level of funding (with Morningside as a known early investor from 2017), and no approved products, licensing revenue, or commercial sales as of the available data.

Name

Intima Biosciences

Legal name

Intima Bioscience, Inc.

Website

https://intimabioscience.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2014

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Intima Biosciences is a clinical-stage, privately held oncology company developing CRISPR-edited cell therapies and oral small molecule drugs that target the CISH intracellular immune checkpoint to treat metastatic solid tumor cancers, with first-in-human data in metastatic colorectal cancer.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Oncology Pharmaceuticals

NAICS

Research and Development in Biotechnology (except Nanobiotechnology) (541714), Biological Product (except Diagnostic) Manufacturing (325414)

SIC

Biological Products, (No Disgnostic Substances) (2836), Pharmaceutical Preparations (2834)

akta.pro primary industry

Cell Therapy Developers (Autologous) (HLAAABAA)

Keywords

• Cancer immunotherapy
• Checkpoint inhibitor drugs
• CRISPR cell therapy
• Solid tumor treatment
• Small molecule oncology

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations

Revenue model

1. Therapeutic Product Sales: As a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, Intima Bioscience does not currently generate revenue. The company is developing CISH checkpoint inhibitors as cell therapies and small molecule drugs. Upon regulatory approval, revenue will be generated through commercial sales of therapeutic products.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Intima Biosciences is a clinical-stage oncology biopharmaceutical company developing a first-in-class CISH (cytokine-inducible SH2-containing protein) immune checkpoint inhibitor platform. The company pursues both a CRISPR/Cas9 gene-edited cell therapy (CISH-knockout tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes) and an oral small-molecule CISH inhibitor for the treatment of solid tumor cancers.

Product overview

Intima Bioscience is a clinical-stage oncology company developing a novel small molecule and cell therapy platform for targeting the CISH (cytokine-inducible SH2-containing protein) immune checkpoint. The platform consists of three core offerings: (1) the CISH CRISPR Cell Therapy using CRISPR/Cas9-edited tumor infiltrating lymphocytes with CISH knockout, (2) the CISH Checkpoint Inhibitor Platform utilizing small molecule intra-cellular protein-protein interaction strategies, and (3) an oral small molecule CISH inhibitor in advanced development. These products work together to address the traditionally undruggable CISH target and overcome limitations of current immunotherapies that focus on cell surface targets like PD-1/PD-L1.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• CISH CRISPR Cell Therapy
• Oral Small Molecule CISH Inhibitor

Quantifiable outcome

• Patient with young adult Stage IV colorectal cancer resistant to multiple lines of chemotherapy and immunotherapy achieved ongoing clinical complete response after more than 3 years
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• University of Minnesota Masonic Cancer CentercoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 25 April 2025Clinical trial site for first-in-human study using CRISPR knockout of CISH checkpoint in metastatic colorectal cancer patients. Dr. Emil Lou serves as Principal Investigator and Professor of Hematology and Oncology at the Masonic Cancer Center.
• Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer CentercoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 25 April 2025Dr. Christopher A. Klebanoff serves as senior advisor to the study and immunotherapy expert. He is Associate Attending, Laboratory Head, and Member of the Immuno-Oncology Program at MSK.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Merck & Co. Major pharmaceutical company with Keytruda (pembrolizumab), the dominant PD-1 checkpoint inhibitor, and a broad oncology pipeline including next-generation immuno-oncology programs. Broad incumbent peer in the checkpoint inhibitor space that Intima's CISH approach seeks to complement or compete with.
• Bristol-Myers Squibb: Major pharmaceutical company with leading checkpoint inhibitors (Opdivo/nivolumab, Yervoy) and a broad immuno-oncology pipeline. Broad incumbent peer that defines the current PD-1/PD-L1 paradigm that Intima's CISH platform aims to move beyond.

Direct peers

• Iovance Biotherapeutics: Leader in autologous tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL) cell therapy for solid tumors, with FDA-approved lifileucel. Most directly comparable on the cell therapy modality (autologous TILs) and solid tumor focus, though Iovance targets a different biological mechanism (no gene editing).
• Adaptimmune Therapeutics: Clinical-stage cell therapy company developing autologous TCR-T cell therapies engineered to target solid tumors. Comparable as a cell therapy peer for solid tumors using engineered T cells, though Adaptimmune uses engineered TCRs rather than CRISPR gene knockout.
• Beam Therapeutics: Clinical-stage precision genetic medicine company using base editing technology to develop oncology and other therapies. Comparable as a next-generation gene editing peer developing novel cellular therapies for cancer.
• Editas Medicine: CRISPR/Cas9 and CRISPR/Cas12a gene editing platform company developing in vivo and ex vivo gene-edited cell therapies for oncology and other diseases. Directly comparable as a clinical-stage CRISPR gene editing peer targeting novel therapeutic mechanisms.
• Intellia Therapeutics: Clinical-stage CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing company developing in vivo and ex vivo therapies, including CRISPR-edited cell therapies for oncology. Comparable as a CRISPR platform peer pursuing novel gene editing targets in immuno-oncology.
• Allogene Therapeutics: Clinical-stage allogeneic CAR-T cell therapy company developing off-the-shelf cell therapies for cancer. Comparable as a peer in the gene-edited cell therapy space, though Allogene focuses on allogeneic rather than autologous approaches.
• Crispr Therapeutics: Clinical-stage CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing company developing CRISPR-based cell therapies (including CAR-T) for oncology. Most directly comparable to Intima given shared CRISPR gene-editing approach applied to T cells, though Crispr Therapeutics is more advanced and uses different targets.
• Caribou Biosciences: Clinical-stage CRISPR genome editing company developing allogeneic CAR-T cell therapies for oncology. Directly comparable as a CRISPR gene-editing cell therapy peer, though focused on allogeneic CAR-T rather than autologous TIL.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Intima Biosciences