Scripps Research is pioneering a new model for nonprofit research institutes to address the significant health challenges facing humanity in the 21st century, from pandemic threats to the aging of the global population. Founded 100 years ago, Scripps Research is renowned in the life sciences and chemistry for scientific excellence and for training the scientific leaders of tomorrow.
Building on this solid foundation, we have established a unique model that seamlessly combines world-class fundamental and translational research to accelerate the development of innovative, new medicines. We believe this model best captures the impact of groundbreaking discoveries for the benefit of human health.
Moreover, revenues generated from these new medicines are reinvested into research, creating a self-renewing funding source and business model that amplifies investments in science and their ultimate impact on the public.
Scripps Research is a nonprofit biomedical research institute based in La Jolla, California. It has roughly a century of history (founded in 1924 by Ellen Browning Scripps).
It blends basic/fundamental science (chemistry, molecular biology, neuroscience, immunology, structural biology, etc.) with translational science—i.e. moving discoveries from bench toward therapies.
It has robust internal infrastructure for drug discovery via its division called Calibr-Skaggs Institute for Innovative Medicines. This helps turn molecular discoveries into actual candidate medicines.
It values high-risk, high-reward (“bold”) science. It has internal funds/grants (e.g. the Collaborative Innovation Fund) to enable projects that might be too speculative for typical grant funding early on.
It has produced many spin-off companies and patents. Its discoveries have led to multiple approved drugs.
Key Research Areas
Scripps Research works on a broad set of disease-areas and biological sciences. Below are some of the prominent fields and themes.
| Area | What They Are Doing |
|---|---|
| Neuroscience & Neurodegenerative Disease | Studying Alzheimer’s disease (including the molecular basis of neuronal hyperexcitability, single-cell proteomics), Parkinson’s, ALS. |
| Infectious Diseases, Virology, Immunology | Work on HIV, malaria, new antivirals, vaccine development; also pandemic preparedness. |
| Cancer & Oncology | Developing small molecules, immunotherapy approaches; also structural biology and synthetic chemistry to discover novel drug scaffolds. |
| Autoimmune & Inflammatory Disorders | Discovering mechanisms, therapeutics for autoimmune diseases; interacting immune system; figuring out molecular targets. |
| Metabolic Diseases; Diabetes & Obesity | Research into signaling, genomics, nutritional aspects, and inter-organ communication. |
| Precision Medicine & Digital Health | Using genomic data, informatics, devices, wearable sensors, digital trials. Applying patient-derived cells, iPSCs, organoids, single-cell technologies. |
| Chemistry & Chemical Biology | Synthetic biology, novel catalyst chemistry, artificial enzymes, discovery of small molecules, chemoproteomics. |
| Drug Discovery & Translational Therapies | Via Calibr-Skaggs, working on IND-enabling studies, clinical trials; aiming to move compounds to the clinic. |
What enables Scripps Research to generate impactful work:
- Interdisciplinary structure: Departments span chemistry, immunology, neuroscience, computational biology, molecular medicine. Scientists collaborate across disciplines.
- Combination of lab & translational infrastructure: The institute doesn’t just discover but has internal pipelines (via Calibr) to make drugs, take them toward human trials. This reduces delays between discovery and impact.
- Funding model: Not solely reliant on federal grants. There are philanthropic sources, internal funds (Collaborative Innovation Fund), and revenue reinvestment from medicines/licensing. This gives flexibility, especially for higher-risk ideas.
- Strong track record & reputation: Multiple Nobel Prizes, many medicines approved, many patents and spin-offs. This draws talent, collaborations, and industry partners
Key Innovative & Successful Research Outcomes
Here are some specific examples of recent (or slightly older) successes and breakthroughs from Scripps Research.
- New molecular drivers in Alzheimer’s disease
Using a combined single-cell patch-clamp + proteomics technique, Scripps scientists identified ~50 proteins whose levels are significantly altered in Alzheimer’s neurons that show hyperexcitability. Some of these were known, many were not. These proteins are potential therapeutic targets. - Approved Drugs Developed from Scripps Research
- Ozanimod: Initially created at Scripps, already approved for relapsing multiple sclerosis, and more recently for ulcerative colitis.
- Over its history, Scripps has contributed to 15 FDA-approved medications, including five invented in-house.
- Calibr’s Productivity
Calibr-Skaggs has moved six medicines into human clinical trials; many more are in IND-enabling stages; large internal pipeline of programs. This level of nonprofit research translating into clinical candidates is relatively rare. - Spin-Off Success: Vividion Therapeutics
A spin-off from Scripps that applies proteome-wide ligand/target discovery platforms. Vividion is working on “traditionally undruggable” targets. Its origin was in chemistry and biology labs at Scripps, demonstrating how basic science turns into biotech products.
Collaborative Innovation Fund Projects
Recent grants from the CIF are supporting:
- New-to-nature peptide antibiotics (Baran & Liu): generating novel antibiotics to combat superbugs like MRSA and tuberculosis.
- Therapeutic discovery through programmable protein heterodimerization – rewiring or engineering protein-protein interactions to discover new therapy modalities.
- A CRISPR-free precision genome editing system for large DNA manipulations: aiming for methods that avoid the typical DNA breaks & off-target risks of CRISPR.
- Drug Repurposing for COVID-19
Using their ReFRAME collection, researchers at Scripps identified clinically approved drugs and compounds in other stages with strong potential to be repurposed for treating COVID-19.
Wearable tech & cardiovascular risk reduction
A study by the Scripps Translational Institute used wearable patches to detect atrial fibrillation (AFib) early, and showed that participants who used wearables had lower rates of stroke, heart attack, or other major vessel-blocking clots compared to control groups.
Wearable devices could revolutionize pregnancy monitoring and detect abnormalitiesScripps Research study shows how smartwatch and fitness tracker data align with hormonal changes, offering the potential for early detection of complications.
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