---
id: "entity-stanford-ima"
type: "entity"
entityType: "organization"
canonicalName: "Stanford Innovative Medicines Accelerator (IMA)"
aliases: ["Stanford IMA", "IMA", "Innovative Medicines Accelerator"]
source_timestamps: ["§ 1. Embrace a new model for accelerating drug development.", "¶10"]
tags: ["accelerator", "case-study"]
related: ["concept-in-house-accelerators"]
sources: ["tail2"]
sourceVaultSlug: "hbr-seg-tail2"
originDay: 2
articleStem: "hbr-tail-131-medical-drug-discovery"
sourceUrl: "https://hbr.org/2026/04/u-s-medical-centers-need-a-new-model-for-drug-discovery-and-development"
sourceTitle: "U.S. Medical Centers Need a New Model for Drug Discovery and Development"
---
# Stanford's Innovative Medicines Accelerator (IMA)

An in-house drug-development **"superhighway"** at Stanford University and the article's flagship example of [[concept-in-house-accelerators]]. The IMA uses an **industry-style portfolio-management approach** to prioritize **first-in-class** therapeutic candidates, providing internal **industrial, clinical, and regulatory** experience. The article states it currently manages a pipeline of **over 20 active therapeutic candidates**.

Canonical context: the **Stanford University / Stanford Medicine** ecosystem. Co-author [[entity-joseph-c-wu]] is affiliated with Stanford.

**Enrichment caveat:** the specific figure of **"over 20 active therapeutic candidates"** is **not confirmed** by the enrichment sources, though Stanford's accelerator model is consistent with the broader literature on academic development platforms.