# IOR and Andrea Alimonti

> Deepening AR-NTD mechanism of action with prostate cancer resistance biology at IOR in Bellinzona.

[View this page on Peptone](https://peptone.io/pipeline/collaborations/ior-alimonti-ar-ntd/)

## Collaboration facts

- Institution: Institute of Oncology Research
- Location: Bellinzona and Zurich, Switzerland
- Principal investigator: Prof. Andrea Alimonti, Director of IOR and professor at ETH Zurich
- Program: AR-NTD

## Focus areas

- Prostate cancer resistance
- Androgen receptor pathway
- Translational oncology models

## Why we partner

First-in-class AR-NTD drug candidates require more than a binder. They require a precise reading of how the disordered N-terminal domain drives transcription when ligand-binding-domain therapies fail. We partner with IOR and Prof. Andrea Alimonti to advance that disease biology and mechanism-of-action understanding in models that reflect castration-resistant prostate cancer as it presents in the clinic.

## Scientific focus

Prof. Alimonti directs the Institute of Oncology Research and leads a molecular oncology program centred on prostate cancer therapy resistance, cellular senescence, the tumour microenvironment, and mechanisms that keep androgen receptor signalling alive after standard antiandrogens. That expertise maps directly onto Peptone's AR-NTD programs, which engage the intrinsically disordered activation domain that splice variants and ligand-independent signalling continue to use.

## What Peptone brings

Peptone's Product Engine combines HDX-MS and ensemble modelling that map transient pockets on AR-NTD with fully synthetic small molecule series designed to hold the domain in a transcriptionally silent state. Our Bellinzona laboratory sits alongside IOR, which shortens the loop between biophysical design and translational biology.

## What we do together

Together we interrogate how Peptone compounds engage AR-NTD biology in cutting-edge prostate cancer models, including settings where ligand-binding-domain inhibitors no longer control disease. The collaboration focuses on mechanism of action, resistance context, and preclinical readouts that inform which chemical series deserve to advance.

## Therapeutic ambition

The purpose of this collaboration is to generate first-in-class AR-NTD drug candidates by giving Peptone access to disease biology and models ahead of the field. We are not outsourcing discovery. We are pairing measured disordered-protein chemistry with the translational insight required to advance candidates for men with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer.

Collaboration between Peptone and the Institute of Oncology Research (IOR) with
Prof. Andrea Alimonti on AR-NTD programs.