Sanford Laboratories for Innovative Medicines

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
873910792
IRS 990 coverage
2022–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-N 2021
Location
San Diego, CA, USA
Phone
8583265227
Rating
72
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Research Institutes and/or Public Policy Analysis

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$12,981,159
Expenses
$8,745,570
Assets
$24,010,371
Liabilities
$4,360,210

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

9 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • KRISTIINA VUORI MD PHD (PRESIDENT/BOARD MEMBER)

Highest reported compensation

  • MICHAEL DOLLAR (CFO): $359,507 total reported compensation
  • SEBASTIAN MARKMILLER PHD (GROUP LEADER & STRATEGY ADVISOR): $231,915 total reported compensation
  • CONNIE MARTINEZ (DIRECTOR OF PEOPLE OPERATIONS): $205,921 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Sanford laboratories for innovative medicines (sanford labs) is a not-for-profit biomedical research organization with a mission to discover and deliver next-generation precision medicines to improve the lives of patients in need.

What it reported doing in 2025

Sanford laboratories for innovative medicines (sanford labs) is an independent, not-for-profit collaborative hub with a mission to accelerate the development of novel molecular medicines from scientific discovery to the clinic. Our current research is focused on rna therapeutics, a rapidly expanding class of drugs with the potential to progress quickly from concept to patient and change the standard of care for many life-threatening diseases. (continued on schedule o).our unique operating model fills a critical gap for translational research that does not fit traditional academic labs and yet is too early for venture or industry investment. Our research teams, led by teams of entrepreneurial scientists, are organized around therapeutic approaches and platform technologies with broad applicability to a range of diseases, thus enabling the efficient prototyping of multiple new medicines in parallel. In addition to our internal research, we are actively forging collaborations across the dynamic life science ecosystem and aim to enhance san diego's leadership as a world-class cluster in rna biology and medicines.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 92% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and most filed governance safeguards are in place. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and reported officer compensation is a large share of total spending, which may reflect staffing concentration.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 57
  • Transparency & Controls: 84
  • Accountability: 81
  • Sustainability: 66
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 55.6%; rating input score 56
  • Program expense ratio: 79.3%; rating input score 79
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 4 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 67
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Pass
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 66.7%; rating input score 67; 10th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 32.6%; rating input score 85; 85th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.75; rating input score 63; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.18; rating input score 54; 54th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 16.7%; rating input score 9; 9th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 62.3% per year; rating input score 100; 98th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 32.9% per year; rating input score 100; 96th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 14.6% per year; rating input score 100; 82nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 55.6% of revenue deployed · 79.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 2 of 3 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $6.9M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $360K · 9 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 2 contractors listed · $218K reported
  • Consistency: 31 of 31 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 4 filing years from 2022 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 7 filed money-flow records
  • Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
  • People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 56/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 9/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 54/100.