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.
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.
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.
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.
Cure is a 12-story innovations 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.
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.
Presidio Medical was founded in 2017 and is headquartered in South San Francisco, CA. The clinical-stage, privately held medical device company is developing a transformational neuromodulation platform to treat diseases of undesired neural activity with a first indication in the treatment of chronic pain.
Pleno Inc. is a multi-omic instrument platform company democratizing biological target detection for clinical testing and biomedical research. The company’s proprietary Hypercoding™ technology leverages signal processing techniques from the telecommunications industry to deliver targeted biological information at unprecedented scale, precision, and performance.
Medical Microinstruments, Inc. (MMI) was founded in 2015 near Pisa, Italy to enhance surgical performance through the development of a robotic system that enables surgeons to achieve better outcomes in microsurgery. The Symani Surgical System combines proprietary innovations including the world’s smallest wristed microinstruments as well as tremor-reducing and motion-scaling technologies. Together, these powerful capabilities allow more surgeons to successfully perform microsurgery while expanding the field of supermicrosurgery.
Founded in 2019, DeepSight Technology’s vision is to reinvent diagnostic imaging. DeepSight’s proprietary sensor technology delivers a quantum leap in performance that vastly extends the range of diagnostic medical ultrasound to benefit public health and well-being. DeepSight is headquartered in the San Francisco Bay Area with offices in St. Louis, Missouri.
Deerfield Management, UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy Announce First Educational Collaboration
Deerfield and the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy will join forces to develop a training partnership to support the translation of scientific discovery to commercialization. The partnership will kick off with a seminar on April 16, 2021.
(NEW YORK CITY, NY, March 31, 2021) ––Deerfield Management Company (Deerfield), a healthcare investment management firm focused on advancing healthcare through investment, information and philanthropy, and the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy are thrilled to announce a first-of-its-kind educational-based collaboration that features a new certificate program and kick-off seminar. The certificate, micro-credential program, “Molecules to Market,” will be taught in tandem by academic and industry experts. The certificate program is specifically designed to support the translation of basic research and discovery along the path to commercialization.
The program’s introductory seminar, entitled “Molecules to Market – Overcoming the Valley of Death,” will be held via Zoom on Friday, April 16, 2021 from 9:00 am ET to 11:00 am ET. Registration is free and open to the public with the specific goal of discussing the key elements of any translational program.
“This type of educational-based collaboration is a new development for Deerfield as we continue to innovate and find new ways to advance healthcare,” said James E. Flynn, managing partner at Deerfield. “With this seminar and future certificate, we aim to leverage key learnings and analysis from previous case studies to highlight the steps required to translate a basic discovery to a medicine that will improve patients’ lives. To reach commercialization, the business plan is as important as the science itself, and we hope to educate those in the healthcare community and begin to address that gap.”
The seminar is designed for anyone with an understanding of basic science and a desire to understand both the industry and academic side of translating a discovery for patient benefit. The program aims to create a solution for entrepreneurs, leaders and scientists by creating a deep roster of professionals that understand how to move research through the long process to commercialization.
“Pharmaceutical and biomedical PhD scientists are increasingly involved in all aspects of drug development, but PhD training is almost exclusively focused on technical skills associated with bench science. Our collaboration with Deerfield will fill a much-needed gap by training on specific competencies required to advance discoveries to the market,” said Angela Kashuba, dean of the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy.
The UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy is a world-renowned academic institution and is ranked the No. 1 school of pharmacy in the country by U.S. News & World Report in 2020. Together with Deerfield, the seminar will convene industry and academic leaders to share key insights through analysis of case studies and to discuss in detail what is necessary to move scientific discovery to commercialization.
Panelists include:
John Bamforth, PhD, Director Eshelman Institute for Innovation – Dr. Bamforth previously served as the vice president and chief marketing officer for a broad portfolio of therapeutics at Eli Lilly and Company. He now oversees The Eshelman Institute for Innovation, which aims to accelerate the creation and development of ideas leading to discoveries of new medicines and technologies.
James Flynn, Managing Partner, Deerfield Management – Jim has over 30 years in the healthcare investment industry and is responsible for the management of the Firm, building deep healthcare information expertise through the Deerfield Institute, expanding its investment capabilities to include venture and private structured financings; establishing the Deerfield Foundation to contribute toward the health and welfare of disadvantaged children; creating Deerfield Discovery and Development, LLC, which conducts Deerfield’s translational discovery research efforts; and founding a healthcare innovation center, Cure, at 345 Park Avenue South in New York City.
Michael Foley, PhD, Chief Executive Officer, Deerfield Discovery and Development, and Vice President of Translational Drug Development – Dr. Foley joined Deerfield in 2018 to focus on academic collaborations. Previously, he was the CEO of Tri-Institutional Therapeutics Discovery Institute (Tri-I TDI) where he led the efforts to discover drug candidates in an academic setting.
Stephen Frye, PhD, Fred Eshelman Distinguished Professor, Center for Integrative Chemical Biology and Drug Discovery Co-Program Leader, Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy – Dr. Frye is a Fred Eshelman Distinguished Professor, Director of the Center for Integrative Chemical Biology and Drug Discovery, and Co-leader of the Molecular Therapeutics Program, Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill.
Cam Wheeler, Ph.D, Partner, Deerfield Management -Cameron Wheeler, Ph.D., is a Partner on the Biotherapeutics group at Deerfield and joined the Firm in 2014. Prior to Deerfield, Dr. Wheeler worked for and on behalf of Eleven Biotherapeutics, Inc. as a director since 2009. Previous to that, Dr. Wheeler was Manager of the Business Development and Operations team at Constellation Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and a Senior Associate at Third Rock Ventures, LLC. Dr. Wheeler holds a Ph.D. and S.M. in Biological Engineering and an S.B. in Mechanical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
The panel will be moderated by Dr. Michael Jarstfer, Assistant Dean for Graduate Education & Associate Professor at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy. Dr. Jarstfer is the Director of the Graduate Studies for Pharmaceutical Sciences PhD Program at UNC. He will speak to the University of North Carolina’s commitment to advancing the translation of scientific discovery to commercialization.
Seminar attendees will have the opportunity to learn about the upcoming certificate program, which is expected to launch later this year, and discover a skillset that is both unique and vital within the healthcare ecosystem. The certificate plans to address the gap between academia and industry which has been known to reduce the speed and success of translational drug development.
This unique educational-based collaboration has been envisioned to further strengthen the Cure, a 12-story vertical innovations campus in New York City that Deerfield recently opened to develop leaders across the healthcare spectrum.
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.
About UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy
The UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, based in Chapel Hill, N.C., is an internationally recognized leader in pharmacy practice, education, and research. We develop leaders in pharmacy education, pharmacy practice, and pharmaceutical sciences who make a difference on human health worldwide. The School is recognized as the No.1 school of pharmacy in the U.S. by U.S. News and World Report and is ranked No. 6 in the 2021 QS World University Rankings for the Best World Universities in Pharmacy and Pharmacology. For more information, visit pharmacy.unc.edu, or follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Adela is focused on the detection of cancer and other high-morbidity, high-mortality conditions through a routine blood test. The company’s genome-wide methylome enrichment platform captures information from small quantities of cell-free DNA and applies machine learning to detect and classify underlying disease. The platform is unique in its ability to efficiently capture broad genomic information and preserve it during sequencing. Adela’s technology does not require bisulfite conversion, which is a chemical treatment that causes loss of valuable genomic material. The technology is initially being developed for use across the cancer continuum for detection, diagnosis, and management, and in the future will be applied to other conditions beyond cancer.
Coridea and Deerfield to Accelerate Medtech Innovation
Innovation Center Housed at the Cure in New York City
(NEW YORK CITY, NY, March 9, 2021) – Coridea and Deerfield Management Company (Deerfield) announced today a collaboration, Deerfield Device Design and Development Catalyst (Deerfield Catalyst), to advance medtech innovation and accelerate the formation of commercial companies. The initiative combines the resources of two established health pioneers: Coridea, a proven medtech incubator with a history of innovation, and Deerfield, a healthcare investment firm committed to advancing healthcare through investment, information and philanthropy, with over $14 billion in assets. Deerfield Catalyst will be a founding ecosystem member of the newly developed Cure building, a healthcare innovation and collaboration campus based in midtown Manhattan.
“We see significant value in the medtech industry and are excited to extend our investment in medtech with this newly formed partnership. Coridea’s track record makes its team an ideal partner to innovate, evaluate, and foster new ideas from concept to commercial enterprise,” stated Steve Hochberg, Partner at Deerfield. “As a New York-based firm, we are proud to partner with the team from Coridea as it brings innovative ideas and enterprise-building capabilities into the Cure ecosystem. This will serve to further establish the Northeast region and New York City as a center for healthcare innovation.”
Formed by proven industry leaders, the incubator will provide its companies with discipline and expertise in a collaborative ecosystem. Grounded by years of industry experience, the team will be able to efficiently move projects through key early-stage milestones including needs assessment, concept generation, rapid prototyping, and pre-clinical and clinical evaluation. Deerfield Catalyst will source new projects and companies through internal ideation and external collaboration with academic or individual partners.
“For sustainable commercial success, innovation must address a clear clinical need, whether it be streamlining a procedure to reduce cost or developing a novel intervention to treat more patients. At Deerfield Catalyst we plan to use agile best practices to efficiently advance promising clinical ideas and companies through the development lifecycle,” commented Howard Levin, M.D., CEO of Coridea and Chief Executive of Deerfield Catalyst. “We see a bright future ahead and are excited to become a critical part of the Cure healthcare ecosystem.”
The partnership aims to launch 10 new companies over the next five years. Structured to support company formation and growth, the incubator includes funding for operating expenses, early idea generation, and project and company evaluation. The medtech incubator hub and newly formed companies will be housed in the Cure building at 345 Park Avenue South in Manhattan.
Deerfield Device Design and Development Catalyst (Deerfield Catalyst) is a medtech incubator that aims to support and advance transformational innovation into commercial products and successful enterprises. A collaboration between Deerfield and the Coridea team, Deerfield Catalyst is focused on developing medtech solutions that improve outcomes and streamline patient care. The incubator plans to launch 10 companies over the next five years. To learn more, please visit, www.dfcatalyst.com.
Coridea, is a proven medtech incubator that develops innovative solutions to address complex and costly unmet needs in healthcare. Led by Dr. Howard Levin, Mark Gelfand, Dr. Zoar Engelman and Adam Rosenwach, Coridea has launched several companies that focus on bridging the gap between patient care and medical device innovation. To learn more, please visit coridea.com.
Deerfield is an investment management firm committed to advancing healthcare through investment, information and philanthropy. For more information, please visit www.deerfield.com
Deerfield Device Design and Development Catalyst (Deerfield Catalyst) is a medtech incubator that aims to support and advance transformational innovation into commercial products and successful enterprises. A collaboration between Deerfield and the Coridea team, Deerfield Catalyst is focused on developing medtech solutions that improve outcomes and streamline patient care. The incubator plans to launch 10 companies over the next five years.
Encodia is a privately held biotechnology company bringing the power of sequencing to proteomics. The company’s patented ProteoCode technology enables highly scalable protein analysis via an accessible and easy-to-use benchtop instrument. Tools employing Encodia’s ProteoCode technology will drive new biological understanding with impact in data-driven drug discovery and development, new high complexity diagnostics, and beyond.
GeneDx delivers personalized and actionable health insights to inform diagnosis, direct treatment and improve drug discovery. The company is positioned to accelerate the use of genomic and large-scale clinical information to enable precision medicine as the standard of care. GeneDx is at the forefront of transforming healthcare through its exome and genome testing and interpretation, fueled by one of the world’s largest rare disease data sets.
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