Deerfield
About Deerfield

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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Investment

Supporting companies across the healthcare ecosystem with flexible funding models…

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Information

Delivering market research to the Deerfield team, its portfolio companies and other partners.

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Philanthropy

A New York City-based not-for-profit devoted to advancing innovative health care initiatives.

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Portfolio Companies

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 Programming

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

Inaugural Approvals For RNA-Based Medicine

In the case of another historic first in the world of healthcare, this summer saw the first US and EU regulatory approvals for an RNA interference (RNAi) therapeutic, in the form of Alnylam’s Onpattro (patisiran). The drug, given as an infusion, was approved to treat polyneuropathy of hereditary transthyretin-mediated amyloidosis (hATTR) in adult patients. A rare and often fatal disease, hAATR is characterized by the buildup of abnormal amyloid protein in peripheral nerves, the heart, and other organs. Up until this approval, the American College of Cardiology’s recommendations for treatment were merely supportive care and clinical trials, pointing to the level of unmet need for this patient population[1].

Still, it has been anything but smooth sailing for Onpattro, nor for the field of RNA-based medicines.  Like gene therapy, it has seen an earlier wave of enthusiasm come crashing down in the wake of technical challenges and safety issues. While Onpattro will not be a panacea to all the known issues, it is important to note where and how it has succeeded where others have failed and to understand what it means for other candidates in the pipeline. 

How it works

To understand how RNAi works, transport yourself to your high school biology class where you learned about the “central dogma” theory that explains the relationship between DNA, RNA and proteins – that DNA in the nucleus forms genes which are the template for transcription to RNA, which in turn is the template for translation to proteins. Those proteins then serve as a central player in most biological systems. In individuals without hAATR, the liver produces the TTR protein, used to transport vitamin A and a thyroid-binding protein in the body. Patients with hATTR have a mutation in the gene for TTR, which leads to the creation of a defective and unstable TTR protein. Onpattro binds to the mutated mRNA sequence that causes the defective protein, and cuts out that sequence, effectively halting the production of the misfolded and defective protein[2]. Of note, this approach targets the upstream