Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) and healthcare investment firm Deerfield Management have announced a research and development collaboration to help bring next-generation therapeutics to market. Through a newly launched company called Harbor Discoveries, LLC, Deerfield has committed up to $130 million over a 10-year period and will provide CSHL scientists with both funding and functional expertise to advance biomedical research.
“Biomedical research doesn’t stop because of the biotech investment slowdown,” says Andrew Whiteley, vice president of Business Development and Technology Transfer at CSHL. “The Deerfield-CSHL collaboration plans to fund cutting-edge translational science while offering our scientists direct access to clinical development and commercial expertise. By combining CSHL’s innovations with Deerfield’s expertise, Harbor Discoveries is positioned to bring forth the kinds of healthcare advancements that can impact countless patients’ lives.”
Harbor Discoveries, LLC is a private company wholly owned by affiliates of Deerfield Management. Its goal is to find cures for diseases and make life-saving therapeutics more widely available. Formation of the company will help close critical gaps between early-stage drug discovery and commercial development efforts at a time when capital investment in biotechnology has been much harder to access.
“CSHL has continued to prove its ability to attract top research minds across important fields of scientific study,” said James Flynn, managing partner, Deerfield Management and Cure® founder. “We are excited about the prospect of the discovery of new therapeutics stemming from this high-potential collaboration.”
As part of the agreement, CSHL researchers will submit project proposals to Harbor Discoveries and its scientific review team led by Deerfield experts and guided by CSHL’s Office of Technology Transfer. Those projects accepted will receive funding and operational support to progress from the laboratory to the clinic. In exchange for these resources, Harbor Discoveries, LLC will have the option to license the associated intellectual property and know-how developed at CSHL.
About Deerfield Management Company
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, visit www.deerfield.com.