BOSTON and New York, N.Y. (Sept. 8, 2022) – Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) and Deerfield Management, a healthcare investment firm, announce a research collaboration to accelerate discovery of novel therapeutics. Deerfield will provide up to $130 million along with additional scientific and operational support to this collaboration to advance BIDMC research that has the potential to transform patient care over the next decade.

“We are honored to collaborate with Deerfield Management to help provide our investigators with the infrastructure and support necessary to create transformative medicines,” said Gyongyi Szabo, MD, PhD, chief academic officer of BIDMC and Beth Israel Lahey Health. “Research is an essential component of clinical care. Aligning with Deerfield will bolster the outstanding work by BIDMC investigators, translating the discoveries from bench to bedside at a more rapid pace. The collaboration will provide a seamless mechanism to advance discoveries fueled by the recently launched BIDMC Translational Research Hubs.”

BIDMC researchers will be able to submit proposals for funding to Deerfield’s scientific review team.  Accepted proposals will work with Brookline Avenue Innovations, LLC, a newly formed private company wholly owned by affiliates of Deerfield Management, to specifically manage and support BIDMC projects. Selected projects will also have the eligibility for additional capital investments to create spin-off companies.

“As a national hospital leader with a notable focus on advancing health care services through scientific research, BIDMC is an ideal partner for our team at Deerfield Management,” said James Flynn, managing partner of Deerfield Management. “In collaboration with some of the brightest minds in the field, we are eager to do our part to connect people, capital, ideas, and technology in ways that will improve standard of care.”

A key partner in the collaboration is BIDMC’s Translational Research Hubs, which are multidisciplinary research and clinical teams focusing on therapeutic areas and technology platforms that align with the needs of BIDMC’s patient population. The hubs aim to maximize collaboration among physicians, scientists, students and trainees to give members the opportunity to learn from one another and in turn launch novel scientific and medical discoveries.

“BIDMC’s world renowned scientists are transforming medical care and training the next generation of leaders in the medical sciences,” said Pete Healy, president of BIDMC. “This collaboration with Deerfield aims to provide a strong foundation for continuing this innovative work at an accelerated pace and enhancing our ability to provide extraordinary patient care.”

About Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center 

Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center is a patient care, teaching and research affiliate of Harvard Medical School and consistently ranks as a national leader among independent hospitals in National Institutes of Health funding. BIDMC is the official hospital of the Boston Red Sox. 

Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center is a part of Beth Israel Lahey Health, a health care system that brings together academic medical centers and teaching hospitals, community and specialty hospitals, more than 4,800 physicians and 36,000 employees in a shared mission to expand access to great care and advance the science and practice of medicine through groundbreaking research and education.

About Deerfield Management 

Deerfield is an investment management firm committed to advancing healthcare through investment, information and philanthropy. The Firm works across the healthcare ecosystem to connect people, capital, ideas and technology in bold, collaborative and inclusive ways. For more information, please visit www.deerfield.com.

MEDIA CONTACT:                                                                                             

Teresa Herbert (BIDMC), [email protected]

Caroline Drucker (Deerfield), [email protected]

Written by Chloe Meck

In January 2019, Deerfield and Yeda, the commercial arm of the Weizmann Institute of Science announced the development of an extensive translational research initiative.  The research collaboration was the first outside of the USA for Deerfield and hopes to catalyze the development of transformative treatments toward clinical validation for cures for diseases and improved quality of life.

In January 2022, Deerfield and Stanford University announced the creation of Porter Alliance for Innovative Medicines, a collaboration to accelerate translational research into clinical therapeutics.

San Francisco and New York – January 18, 2022 – Stanford University and Deerfield Management, a healthcare investment firm, have collaborated to create Porter Alliance for Innovative Medicines to accelerate translational research into clinical therapeutics. Deerfield has committed up to $130 million and additional scientific and operational support to this new collaboration to advance research coming out of Stanford faculty laboratories with a focus on drug prototypes emerging from Stanford’s Innovative Medicines Accelerator.

“The Porter Alliance for Innovative Medicines aims to close a historic gap between scientific research and clinical care,” said Lloyd Minor, MD, Dean of the Stanford University School of Medicine. “This collaboration with Deerfield Management will ensure that Stanford’s breakthroughs in biomedical research translate rapidly to treatments and cures for patients.” 

The newly launched Porter Alliance for Innovative Medicines is a private company wholly owned by affiliates of Deerfield Management.  Its objective is to fund projects that have uncovered novel therapeutics that have the potential to cure life-altering diseases. This collaboration will rely on the robust and diverse drug pipeline already established by Stanford’s Innovative Medicines Accelerator (IMA).

“We are proud to collaborate with Stanford University to help build the bridge that connects basic research to patient cures,” stated James Flynn, Managing Partner of Deerfield Management. “It requires tremendous infrastructure and support to change the probability of success and speed to market for discovery. Through Porter Alliance, Stanford investigators will receive the necessary resources, expertise and management to advance their outstanding science.”

The collaboration will be governed by a joint steering committee comprising equal representation from Deerfield and Stanford University. Stanford researchers will be encouraged to submit proposals for consideration for execution through the collaboration.  Accepted proposals will receive a development plan aimed at achieving Investigational New Drug (IND) readiness. Selected proposals will also have the eligibility for additional capital investments to create spin-off companies.

The Porter Alliance connects Stanford to the broader biopharmaceutical industry and helps researchers understand the problems they need to solve to make transformative medicines. A key partner in the collaboration is the Innovative Medicines Accelerator (IMA), established as part of Stanford’s vision to be a more purposeful university by turning breakthrough discoveries into solutions for the world’s most pressing problems.

“The Innovative Medicines Accelerator is helping Stanford faculty transform their discoveries into prototype medicines, and we must do whatever we can to ensure those medicines get to the patients who need them,” said Chaitan Khosla, PhD, Director, Innovative Medicines Accelerator and professor of chemistry and of chemical engineering at Stanford University. “I am excited and grateful that the Porter Alliance for Innovative Medicines will serve as a bridge between our promising prototypes and approved therapeutics.”

ABOUT STANFORD UNIVERSITY
Stanford University is a place of discovery, creativity, innovation and world-class medical care. Dedicated to its founding mission of benefitting society through research and education, Stanford strives to create a sustainable future for all, catalyze discoveries about ourselves and our world, accelerate the societal impact of its research, and educate students as global citizens. The university is located in the San Francisco Bay Area on the ancestral land of the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe and first welcomed students in 1891. Its main campus holds seven schools along with interdisciplinary research and policy institutes, athletics, and the arts. More than 7,000 undergraduate and 9,000 graduate students pursue studies at Stanford each year. Learn more at Stanford.edu.

ABOUT DEERFIELD MANAGEMENT

Deerfield is an investment management firm committed to advancing healthcare through investment, information and philanthropy. The Firm works across the healthcare ecosystem to connect people, capital, ideas and technology in bold, collaborative and inclusive ways. For more information, please visit www.deerfield.com.

MEDIA CONTACTS

Julie Greicius

[email protected]

Caroline Drucker

212-582-8296

[email protected]

In April 2021, Deerfield and Empire Discovery Institute formed a translational research partnership to accelerate the development of novel therapeutics.  The company called Empire Deerfield Discovery and Development expects to translate scientific discoveries with potential applications for patients.

In June 2019, Deerfield and Columbia University announced the creation of a major research and development alliance, Hudson Heights Innovations.  The collaboration is intended to advance the translation of biomedical discoveries into transformative treatments for improved quality of life and cures for diseases.

In May 2021, Deerfield and Baylor College of Medicine announced a major research collaboration to advance promising therapeutics and support pharmaceutical research and discovery. The collaboration called Blue Square Discoveries will expand the resources and expertise available to Baylor to further advance discoveries beyond the laboratory.

New York, NY (May 15, 2021) — Deerfield Management Company (Deerfield), a healthcare investment management firm focused on advancing healthcare through investment, information and philanthropy, and Baylor College of Medicine (Baylor) today announced a major research collaboration to advance promising therapeutics and support pharmaceutical research and discovery. The Blue Square Discoveries program will expand the resources and expertise available to Baylor to further advance discoveries beyond the laboratory.

Deerfield pledged up to $130 million over 10 years to the Blue Square Discoveries program with the goals of accelerating Baylor’s biomedical discoveries and bringing life-saving therapeutics to market.

“Baylor College of Medicine’s prowess in foundational research has significantly advanced our understanding of disease. These discoveries can lead to life-saving therapies to transform the lives of patients,” said James E. Flynn, Managing Partner at Deerfield. “We are committed to advancing healthcare and this partnership will better equip us in our mission. We are proud to have Baylor College of Medicine join us in this initiative.”

Deerfield will provide funding and operational support to advance mutually agreed upon research initiatives to the market. Using its managerial, operational and drug development expertise, Deerfield will help Baylor expedite treatments for patients across a broad span of therapeutic areas, addressing critical shortcomings and unmet medical needs.

“This new research collaboration will provide us the opportunity to bring our new discoveries in genetics and therapeutics to the bedside in a more efficient and effective way,” said Paul Klotman, M.D., President, CEO and Executive Dean of Baylor College of Medicine.

“The Deerfield relationship represents a new way for Baylor to engage with industry, while also aligning to the strategic mission of Baylor College of Medicine Ventures,” said Shawn Davis, VP and Chief Ventures Officer for BCM Ventures. “Developing a long-term relationship with a collaborator who can drive targets from discovery to commercialization is a great opportunity for our faculty’s success in the drug discovery field.”

“This collaboration will allow us to combine Baylor’s strength in identifying disease-causing protein targets with an innovative chemistry platform,” said Damian Young, Ph.D., Associate Director of the Center for Drug Discovery and Assistant Professor of Pharmacology & Chemical Biology and Pathology & Immunology at Baylor. Young will also serve as the Scientific Business Development Manager for the collaboration.

With the launch of the agreement, researchers at Baylor will have the opportunity to submit proposals for review to a committee comprised of scientific leadership from both Baylor and Deerfield.  Each accepted project will receive the resources and expertise required to bring it through the discovery research phase and to clinical testing.  Additional resources are available to provide funding and operational support thereafter.

Projects that proceeded successfully may receive additional funding from Deerfield. Under the agreement, in exchange for funding, Blue Square Discoveries would receive an option to license intellectual property developed at Baylor.

Deerfield recently opened Cure, a 12-story innovations campus in New York City which includes laboratories, lecture, and office space, as well as technology and other amenities for physician-scientists and entrepreneurs across the life science industry. Cure will expand the expertise and support Deerfield can provide its translational research partners to further enhance collaboration.

About Baylor College of Medicine
Baylor College of Medicine in Houston is recognized as a health sciences university and is known for excellence in education, research and patient care. It is the only private medical school in the greater southwest and is ranked 22nd among medical schools for research and 17th for primary care by U.S. News & World Report. Baylor is listed 20th among all U.S. medical schools for National Institutes of Health funding and No. 1 in Texas. Located in the Texas Medical Center, Baylor has affiliations with seven teaching hospitals and jointly owns and operates Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center, part of CHI St. Luke’s Health. Currently, Baylor has more than 3,000 trainees in medical, graduate, nurse anesthesia, physician assistant, orthotics and genetic counseling as well as residents and postdoctoral fellows. Follow Baylor College of Medicine on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/BaylorCollegeOfMedicine) and Twitter (http://twitter.com/BCMHouston).

About BCM Ventures
Baylor College of Medicine Ventures is the commercial engine of the health sciences university, created to support the translation of academic knowledge and intellectual assets for the benefit of society. We do this by engaging university innovators, entrepreneurs and industry to fully develop ideas along their best commercial path. We foster a culture of commercialization and engage with industry to identify market opportunities for collaborative ventures. To learn more about partnering with BCM Ventures and accessing our available technologies, contact [email protected].

About Deerfield
Deerfield is an investment management firm committed to advancing healthcare through investment, information and philanthropy. For more information, please visit www.deerfield.com.

Contact
BerlinRosen
[email protected]

ALBANY, N.Y. & NEW YORK–(April 26, 2021 08:00 AM EDT)–Deerfield Management Company, a healthcare investment firm focused on advancing healthcare through investment, information and philanthropy, and the Empire Discovery Institute (EDI) have formed a translational research partnership to accelerate the development of novel therapeutics. Through the partnership Deerfield expects to invest up to $65 million over the next five years to translate scientific discoveries with potential applications for patients.

The EDI is a non-profit New York drug discovery and development accelerator created to translate important academic discoveries into new medicines for commercialization by providing strategic support and pharmaceutical development expertise. The EDI works in partnership with research labs at the University of Rochester, the University at Buffalo, and Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Through a newly launched company called Empire Deerfield Discovery & Development LLC (ED3), funding and support will be available for projects in high-need therapeutic areas, as well as those targeting patients who suffer from hard-to-treat and rare diseases, to accelerate them towards clinical validation in patients and commercialization.

“EDI was founded to help overcome the key challenges often faced by life science researchers in academia, namely a lack of external funding to advance pre-clinical development and access to pharmaceutical industry expertise to advance programs in an efficient manner to the clinic. Our partnership with Deerfield will enable us to accelerate our mission to identify medically important targets for human disease to facilitate the creation and development of novel, highly differentiated new therapeutics,” said Martin Graham PhD, CEO of the Empire Discovery Institute.

“We are deeply grateful to the leadership of New York State for their ongoing support for the Empire Discovery Institute. The new investment by Deerfield will strengthen this unique partnership between research institutions in Rochester and Buffalo, help accelerate the process of bringing new drugs to market, and position Western New York and the Finger Lakes as a hub for life sciences research,” said Mark Taubman, CEO of the University of Rochester Medical Center.

“We are pleased to partner with New York State and the EDI to support the exciting discoveries coming out University of Rochester, the University at Buffalo and Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center. These institutions represent a major innovation hub and focusing on translating their science may change the course of disease for many,” stated James Flynn, Deerfield managing partner. “We look forward to supporting the world class science, investigators and leadership as they aim to create new cures for patients.”

“We look forward to the opportunity for this strategic partnership between EDI and Deerfield to support the development and commercialization of novel research initiatives across the partner institutions,” said Candace Johnson CEO Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Dr. Satish K. Tripathi, president, University at Buffalo and chair, Empire Discovery Institute, said, “The Deerfield partnership significantly enhances EDI’s ability to advance novel therapeutics discovered at UB and our founding partners’ institutions. Building upon the $35 million grant from New York State to EDI, the Deerfield partnership gives our faculty researchers access to additional funding and expertise to help them move their innovations from an idea to the market, bringing new life saving drugs to improve the health and well-being of individuals, communities, and society.”

“Governor Cuomo and Empire State Development are dedicated to ensuring New York State is at the forefront of life science research and commercialization,” said Empire State Development Acting Commissioner, and President and CEO-designate Eric Gertler. “The Administration’s investment in the sector, including its support of EDI, helps promote and facilitate dynamic public private partnerships, like ED3, which further enhances New York’s leadership in the life science field.”

Following the launch of this new program, researchers at EDI’s partner institutions will be able to submit R&D proposals for consideration via Martin Graham, Chief Executive Office of Empire Discovery Institute. Recommended proposals will be reviewed by an ED3 joint steering committee, whose membership comprises equal leadership representing EDI and Deerfield. Through ED3, Deerfield will provide funding, development expertise and operational support for accepted proposals.

About EDI

EDI is an integrated drug discovery and development accelerator located in Western New York. Organized as a 501(c)(3) corporation, EDI was established with an initial grant of $35.4M over five years from Empire State Development (ESD) as part of Governor Andrew Cuomo’s $620M NYS Life Science Initiative. EDI together with its Scientific Advisory Board, identifies and in-licenses promising discoveries from its partner institutes at the University at Buffalo, the University of Rochester, and Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center. Through the formation of strategic partnerships with investors and pharmaceutical industry partners, pharmaceutical industry knowledge and expertise is applied to advance candidate drugs through pre-clinical development to patients.  These activities are intended to realize the full clinical and commercial potential of important discoveries originating from EDI’s partner institutions, thereby contributing to the growth and economic development of New York’s biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry.

About Deerfield

Deerfield is an investment management firm committed to advancing healthcare through investment, information and philanthropy. For more information, please visit www.deerfield.com.

Contacts
Martin Graham, Empire Discovery Institute (EDI), [email protected], 484-880-6145
Karen Heidelberger, Deerfield, [email protected], 212‐583‐7298

In February 2021, Deerfield and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute announced the formation of a major translational research partnership, Riverway Discoveries. Riverway Discoveries plans to help accelerate the development of therapeutics and diagnostics for cancer.