In January 2025, the University of Chicago and Deerfield Management announced the launch of Hyde Park Discovery, a collaboration aiming to advance the development of new medicines and other life-saving treatments for disease.
Launched in 1994, Deerfield Management Company is an investment firm dedicated to advancing healthcare through information, investment, and philanthropy—all toward the end goal of cures for disease, improved quality of life, and reduced cost of care.
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Supporting companies across the healthcare ecosystem with flexible funding models…
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Deerfield generally maintains a combined portfolio of more than 150 private and public investments across the life science, medical device, diagnostic, digital health and health service industries at all stages of evolution from start-up to mature company.
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Research Collaborations
Deerfield partners with leading academic research centers, providing critical funding and expertise to further sustain and accelerate the commercialization of discoveries toward meaningful societal impact by advancing cures for disease.
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Strategic Partners
As a strategic partner, Deerfield offers capital, scientific expertise, business operating support, and unique access to innovation.
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Deerfield Foundation
The Deerfield Foundation is a New York City-based not-for-profit organization whose mission is to improve health, accelerate innovation and promote human equity.
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Cure Campus
Cure is a 12-story innovation campus in New York City that intends to bring together innovators from academia, government, industry, and the not-for-profit sectors to advance human health and accelerate the fight against disease.
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Cure has a series of expert lectures intended to advance thought in healthcare, management, innovation, policy, and other relevant subjects. This fosters growth and education for those at Cure and its guests.
Events at the Cure
The University of Chicago and Deerfield Management Launch Hyde Park Discovery to Accelerate Translation of Research Into Life-Saving Treatments
Deerfield Management commits up to $130 million to support UChicago drug discovery and development
CHICAGO and NEW YORK, Jan. 28, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — The University of Chicago and healthcare investment firm Deerfield Management announced today the launch of Hyde Park Discovery, a collaboration aiming to advance the development of new medicines and other life-saving treatments for disease.
Over the next ten years, Deerfield will provide up to $130 million in targeted funding, as well as operational and scientific expertise to advance UChicago discoveries with the potential to become novel therapies. The strategic agreement brings together UChicago’s leading research and innovation capabilities across several key therapeutic areas and Deerfield’s experience in healthcare product development.
“The Biological Sciences Division at UChicago and the UChicago Medicine health system comprise a distinct environment that brings together basic researchers studying fundamental biology and physicians who provide advanced patient care. It is crucial to have the kind of support and innovative capabilities that Deerfield brings to accelerate discoveries and create meaningful results for our community and the world,” said Mark Anderson, dean of the Biological Sciences Division and the Pritzker School of Medicine and executive vice president for Medical Affairs at UChicago.
A joint steering committee made up of leadership from UChicago, the Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, and Deerfield’s scientific team will evaluate projects based on several criteria with the goal of achieving Investigational New Drug readiness on an accelerated timeline. This operating model has the potential to bring new drugs to the market more quickly and cost-effectively.
“Our partnership with the University of Chicago and the Polsky Center underscores Deerfield’s conviction in the significant translational potential of the research that takes place there,” said James Flynn, managing partner at Deerfield. “In joining forces, we look forward to advancing compelling therapeutics together.”
“Bringing innovative ideas and technologies from the University of Chicago ecosystem to the world is the mission of the Polsky Center, and collaborations such as this help us make this goal a reality,” said Samir Mayekar, associate vice president and managing director of the Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, which houses the University’s official technology transfer office. “Backed by Deerfield’s scientific capabilities, we are optimistic that this agreement and the work that follows will result in new potential treatments and cures getting into the hands of the patients who need them.”
The University of Chicago is on the forefront of groundbreaking research and clinical development with a leading academic medical system, more than 160 interdisciplinary institutes and centers, and 50 state-of-the-art core facilities. World-class faculty bring together the fundamentals of medicine and advanced technology with expertise in computer science, AI, materials science, chemistry, and more.
“We are thrilled about partnering with Deerfield in the pursuit of commercializing discoveries made at the University of Chicago that have the potential to impact patient care,” said Scott Oakes, professor and vice dean of clinical science research in the Biological Sciences Division at UChicago. “This investment attests to the incredible science being done here and helps to advance our mission of bringing the fruits of that research to the world.”
About the University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a leading academic and research institution that has driven new ways of thinking since its founding in 1890. As an intellectual destination, the University draws scholars and students from around the world to its campuses and centers around the globe. The University provides a distinctive educational experience and research environment, empowering individuals to challenge conventional thinking and pursue field-defining research that produces new understanding and breakthroughs with global impact.
About the Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation
The Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation advances innovative ideas and technologies from the University of Chicago ecosystem to the world. We are dedicated to supporting students, faculty, staff, and alumni, as well as other entrepreneurs and community-based small business owners in navigating the complex process of bringing new products, services, and research to market. For more information, visit polsky.uchicago.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 Contact
Jessica Sagers, Head of Communications, Deerfield Management
[email protected], 332-323-0100
SOURCE Deerfield Management Company, L.P.
VeritaScience
In January 2024, Washington University in St. Louis and Deerfield Management announced the launch of VeritaScience, a private R&D collaboration designed to advance the discovery, clinical development and commercialization of promising therapeutic and diagnostic candidates with potential to benefit human health.
Washington University and Deerfield Management Launch VeritaScience to Drive Drug Discovery
Deerfield Management makes 10-year commitment of up to $130 million to accelerate translation of Washington University discoveries to improve human health
New York, New York, – January 16, 2024 Washington University in St. Louis and Deerfield Management (“Deerfield”), a healthcare investment firm, today announced the launch of VeritaScience, a new private R&D collaboration designed to advance the discovery, clinical development and commercialization of promising therapeutic and diagnostic candidates with potential to benefit human health.
To support projects that originate from the collaboration, Deerfield has committed up to $130 million over the next 10 years, along with functional expertise, through a newly formed company. Washington University’s investigators will have the opportunity to work with Deerfield’s internal team, which has expertise across the drug development continuum from discovery through commercialization. VeritaScience is named to honor Washington University’s motto “Per Veritatem Vis,” which means “Strength Through Truth” in Latin.
The VeritaScience collaboration complements the university’s existing efforts in drug development and its innovative culture. Project proposals can be designed around any disease indication. Washington University’s investigators will submit project proposals to VeritaScience and its scientific review team, which is led by Deerfield experts and guided by the university’s Office of Technology Management and Washington University School of Medicine’s (“WashU Medicine”) business development team. Accepted drug discovery projects will receive a development plan aimed at achieving Investigational New Drug readiness and may be eligible for additional funding and support for the creation of separate, start-up companies.
Washington University is known worldwide for its innovative research programs in the medical sciences, aimed at improving human health. The university currently is ranked #7 in National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding among U.S. universities, with $633 million received in the 2023 federal fiscal year. This includes nearly $584 million in funding for research initiatives at WashU Medicine, which currently is ranked #2 in NIH funding among U.S. medical schools.
“The exciting collaboration with Deerfield Management to create VeritaScience represents yet another major approach to leveraging the research capabilities of Washington University,” said David H. Perlmutter, MD, the George and Carol Bauer Endowed Dean of Washington University School of Medicine, executive vice chancellor for medical affairs, and the Spencer T. and Ann W. Olin Distinguished Professor. “Deerfield has extensive experience in academic-industry partnerships, and this agreement allows us to further advance the ‘virtuous cycle of academic medicine’ and our commitment to translating ever more of the landscape-altering discoveries happening in our labs into tools and therapies that will concretely improve human health and alleviate suffering.”
The VeritaScience collaboration is an example of Deerfield’s engagement with research institutions. Currently, Deerfield’s network includes nearly 30 leading research institutions and medical centers, which aims to bring the healthcare ecosystem together to collaborate and learn from each other. Together with its research partners, Deerfield has provided funding and expertise to create spin-off companies that support key avenues from concept to spin-out of novel therapeutic discoveries.
“Throughout the process of forming VeritaScience, what has stood out to our team at Deerfield is the forward-thinking and innovation-focused Washington University culture,” said James Flynn, managing partner of Deerfield. “We intend to equip the researchers of selected projects with flexible capital, expertise, and operational support to help them realize their discoveries’ potential.”
ABOUT WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY
Washington University in St. Louis is counted among the world’s leaders in teaching, research, patient care and service to society. The university draws students and faculty to St. Louis from more than 100 countries and all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. The total student body is approximately 14,000 undergraduate, graduate and professional students. Washington University has been affiliated with 25 Nobel laureates, many of whom did a significant portion of their award-winning work at the university. The university offers more than 90 programs and almost 1,500 courses leading to bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees in a broad spectrum of traditional and interdisciplinary fields, with additional opportunities for minor concentrations and individualized programs.
WashU Medicine is a global leader in academic medicine, including biomedical research, patient care and educational programs with 2,800 faculty. Its National Institutes of Health (NIH) research funding portfolio is the second largest among U.S. medical schools, has grown more than 40% in the last six years and, together with institutional investment, WashU Medicine commits well over $1 billion annually to basic and clinical research innovation and training. Its faculty practice is consistently within the top five in the country, with more than 1,800 faculty physicians practicing at over 65 locations and who are also the medical staffs of Barnes-Jewish and St. Louis Children’s hospitals of BJC HealthCare.
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:
Anthony Karamourtopoulos
Diane Duke Williams
Amethyst Innovations
In June 2023, NYU Langone Health and Deerfield Management Company announced the launch of a research and development collaboration designed to accelerate the commercialization of biomedical discoveries. Through a newly formed company called Amethyst Innovations, LLC, Deerfield has committed up to $130 million over the next 10 years, along with additional scientific and operational support, including access to the Deerfield-founded Women in Science program, to advance the translation of NYU Langone’s biomedical research in a broad range of areas.
Funding Models
Sample from 2008 to April 2023:
Please note that the listed transactions are a sample of the types of deals that can be created as well as just a sampling of the companies we have worked with over the time period from 2008 to 2023.
Harbor Discoveries
In January 2023, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) and Deerfield Management announced a research and development collaboration to help bring next-generation therapeutics to market. Through a newly formed company called Harbor Discoveries, LLC, Deerfield has committed up to $130 million over a 10-year period, along with functional expertise, to advance biomedical research.
Bayfield Therapeutics
In September 2022, Moffitt Cancer Center, one of the nation’s leading cancer care and research institutions, and Deerfield Management announced a translational research alliance through a newly launched company called Bayfield Therapeutics LLC, to accelerate the development of new therapeutics to treat cancer. Deerfield has committed up to $130 million over the next 10 years to this collaboration.
Deerfield and Stanford University Create the Porter Alliance for Innovative Medicines
Deerfield Management Commits up to $130 Million to Support Stanford’s Innovative Translational Research
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
Caroline Drucker
212-582-8296
Deerfield Management and Baylor College of Medicine Announce Blue Square Discoveries to Advance Novel Therapeutic Treatments
Deerfield will fund up to $130 million and provide development expertise to accelerate Baylor’s cutting-edge discovery research
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
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