Deerfield Management has added yet another commercialisation fund to its roster, this time partnering University of Illinois at Chicago for a $65m vehicle.
University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) partnered investment firm Deerfield Management yesterday to launch translational research funding and commercialisation vehicle West Loop Innovations.
Deerfield will provide up to $65m in capital to West Loop Innovations, which will help advance promising discoveries at the university. In particular, the fund is expected to solidify UIC’s strengths in drug discovery.
The fund is seen as a major boost for Discovery Partners Institute, a collaborative research institute led by University of Illinois System, with projects funded by West Loop Innovations set to help advance the institute’s healthcare and wellness mission.
Projects will be able to tap into the resources of the institute’s local hub, Drug Discovery and Innovation Pavilion, once it opens and benefit from facilities at the institute’s headquarters once constructed.
West Loop Innovations will invite proposals from this autumn, with projects to be approved by a joint committee made up of members from UIC and Deerfield’s scientific leadership team.
Projects will receive a development plan, resources to prepare for an investigational new drug filing and operational expertise. Deerfield may choose to invest additional capital to avoid researchers having to spend time securing external funding.
Tim Killeen, president of University of Illinois, said: “West Loop Innovations together with the establishment of the Discovery Partners Institute will provide the resources and expertise to accelerate drug discovery and develop our already robust drug pipeline.
“UIC has exceptional expertise in identifying new drug targets and therapeutics, and our collaborative partnership with Deerfield will help get more of those discoveries out into the marketplace.”
West Loop Innovations is the latest in a line of several such vehicles that Deerfield Management has formed in partnership with universities.
They include Bluefield Innovations with Johns Hopkins University, Ancora Innovation with Vanderbilt University, Lakeside Discovery with Northwestern University, Poseidon Innovation with University of California, San Diego and Pinnacle Hill with University of Carolina at Chapel Hill, all of which benefitted from $65m in funding.
Last month, Deerfield also joined forces with Harvard University to establish Lab1636, allocating $100m to that initiative.
