Activating immunity where it matters most.
Stave Therapeutics is an early-stage oncology company developing first-in-class small molecule immunotherapies designed to overcome resistance to cancer treatment.
Checkpoint inhibitors changed cancer medicine. But for the majority of patients, they still don’t deliver durable benefit. The tumour itself is the problem. It actively suppresses the immune response that modern therapies depend on.
Stave Therapeutics was founded to change that. We are building a new approach to cancer immunotherapy, one that works with the biology of the tumour rather than against it.
Our approach
Built on validated science
The technology at the heart of Stave Therapeutics was built over more than three decades of rigorous cancer research at two of New Zealand’s leading biomedical research institutions, with collaborating partners across the world.
Our scientific founders have spent their careers at the intersection of cancer biology, chemistry, and immunology. The core mechanisms have been proven in the clinic, giving Stave Therapeutics a head start that few early-stage companies can claim.
Designed with the tools of tomorrow
We are developing our lead programme using cutting-edge artificial intelligence and computational chemistry, working in unison with automated small molecule synthesis. This modern approach to drug design allows us to explore chemical space more rapidly and precisely than traditional methods — accelerating the path from scientific insight to development candidate.
Our lead programme is advancing toward a development candidate, with a clear pathway to clinical studies. We are focused, disciplined, and building with the long game in mind.
Cancer immunotherapy has further to go
Immunotherapy has transformed oncology. Checkpoint inhibitors have produced remarkable, lasting results for some patients, proving that the immune system, when properly engaged, can be a powerful force against cancer.
The opportunity ahead is equally remarkable. For the majority of patients with solid tumours, durable responses remain elusive. The tumour microenvironment actively suppresses immune surveillance, not simply evading detection, but co-opting the immune system itself.
A different kind of answer
Most approaches to improving immunotherapy add more systemic immune stimulation - more activation, broader signals. The result is often more toxicity without solving the underlying problem.
Stave Therapeutics approach is different. Rather than flooding the body with immune signals, our programme is designed to precisely target immune activation to where it is needed - inside the tumour - using biology that is intrinsic to solid cancers.
This is a fundamentally different strategy. One that does not ask patients to choose between safety and efficacy.
Our founding science has already been validated in human clinical trials through prior applications of the underlying technology, giving us a level of translational confidence that is rare at this stage of development.
The problems we are solving
Spun out of world-class science
Stave Therapeutics was founded on science developed at the University of Auckland’s Auckland Cancer Society Research Centre and the Malaghan Institute of Medical Research, two of New Zealand’s most productive biomedical research organisations.
Our founding researchers have spent more than three decades working on the biology that underpins Stave Therapeutics programme. They are published leaders in their respective fields, with a track record of taking ideas from the lab bench all the way to human clinical trials.
From research to reality
Stave Therapeutics was incorporated to translate this foundational research into a medicine. The company was established through a partnership between its scientific founders and Unruly Partners, a venture builder that acts as a true co-founder: bringing capital, global networks, market knowledge, and hands-on business building experience to the companies it backs.
Together, the founding group brings world-class cancer science, translational drug development experience, and commercial expertise under one roof.
Our story
The founding team
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Professor - Ian Hermans
Scientific Co-Founder
Ian is a Professor and research group leader at the Malaghan Institute of Medical Research in Wellington. A leading authority on cancer immunology and the tumour immune microenvironment, Ian’s research focuses on harnessing the immune system to fight cancer. His expertise in innate immunity and immunotherapy provides the scientific foundation for Stave Therapeutics immunological approach. -
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Associate Professor - Adam Patterson
Scientific Co-Founder
Adam is an Associate Professor at the Auckland Cancer Society Research Centre, University of Auckland, and one of Australasia’s most accomplished molecular pharmacologists. He has led cancer drug discovery programmes from first principles through to human clinical trials, and is a founding inventor of the intellectual property underlying Stave Therapeutics. Adam brings over 20 years of translational oncology expertise to the company. -
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Associate Professor - Jeff Smaill
Scientific Co-Founder
Jeff is an Associate Professor of Medicinal Chemistry at the Auckland Cancer Society Research Centre, University of Auckland, with a career-long focus on designing novel small molecules for cancer treatment. He is a key inventor on the patents underpinning Stave Therapeutics technology and one of New Zealand’s foremost experts in oncology drug discovery.
Unruly Partners
Stave Therapeutics was co-founded with Unruly Partners, an early-stage venture builder operating in the area of agriculture, food and healthcare. Unruly Partners acts as a true co-founder. They bring capital, global networks, deep market knowledge, and hands-on business building experience to each porfolio company, working alongside the founding team to build from the ground up.
Join us!
Shape the future of cancer medicine
This is a rare opportunity to be part of a world-class team with validated foundational science and a clear development pathway. This is your chance to own it.
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You will be the primary business leader of Stave Therapeutics, working alongside a scientifically strong founder group and board to translate the program into a partner able, investment-grade, and clinically ready company. You will lead capital strategy, investor engagement, commercial partnering, external operations, and company-building, while also owning key vendor relationships, budgets, contracts, and execution across the preclinical, IND-enabling, and early clinical pathway — including the Australian CTN Phase 1 trial and subsequent US FDA Phase 2 positioning.
You will work directly with the board, scientific advisors, regulatory consultants, CROs/CMOs, and prospective strategic partners across Australia, New Zealand, the US, and other key markets.
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You will join the board of Stave Therapeutics at the formation stage, providing experienced, independent governance alongside the founder group as the company progresses its first-in-class oncology program from preclinical discovery into the clinic. You will help shape capital strategy, partnering discussions, regulatory positioning, and board-level decision-making, bringing pattern recognition from prior first-in-class oncology programs, regulatory experience in Australia and/or the US, and a track record in early-stage drug development through governance or executive roles. You will work directly with the CEO, founders, scientific advisors, and prospective investors and partners and will play a meaningful role as Stave scales.
These are a hands-on governance roles, in keeping with the early stage of the business. We are looking for individuals who can challenge the team constructively, open doors into capital and pharma networks, and help us avoid the predictable mistakes of an early stage oncology company. Time commitment, equity, and fees will be agreed with the successful candidates.
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You will be the operational backbone of Stave Therapeutics through its critical founding period, working directly with the teams at Unruly Partners, Auckland Cancer Society Research Centre, Malaghan Institute of Medical Research, and a growing roster of external partners across the world. This 6 month fixed term role will be a part-time (~0.5 FTE), hands-on, deliverables-focused role. We are looking for a disciplined operator who can take a complex preclinical plan involving multiple parties, and drive it to the agreed milestones. You will have the experience to surface issues early, keep the founders and board focused and on timeline, manage risk and spend wisely.