An oncology team led by Johns Hopkins professor Marikki Laiho has been backed by the commercialisation fund, becoming its first recipient.
An unnamed oncology project at Johns Hopkins University (JHU) became the first to receive a funding commitment, of undisclosed size, from JHU-focused commercialisation vehicle Bluefield Innovations yesterday.
The oncology team, led by Marikki Laiho, director of JHU’s Division of Molecular Radiation Sciences, will target the RNA-polymerase 1 pathway, a cellular route thought integral to cancerous cells yet relatively immaterial to healthy ones.
Laiho’s team will use the funding to select a lead molecule and to prepare for clinical trials. Bluefield Innovations will also offer scientific and operational support.
Bluefield launched in November 2017 with a $65m budget funded by healthcare investment firm Deerfield Management to target early-stage JHU therapeutic projects for a five-year term.
The vehicle aims to combine Deerfield’s drug development and entrepreneurial expertise with the university’s research and discovery capabilities.
Marikki Laiho said: “I truly appreciate the opportunity to align with a collaborator that shares the same mindset and goals surrounding early-stage research targets.
“Bluefield understands that new targets and first-in-class molecules require a higher level of due diligence and with that, they provide the expertise to support the extensive groundwork required for the [investigational new drug] process.”
