U. of C., Deerfield launch $130M drug research collaboration | Evening Digest

The University of Chicago will receive up to $130 million in funding over the next 10 years as part of a new drug research collaboration. 

Called Hyde Park Discovery, the collaboration was announced last Wednesday by the U. of C. and the project’s funder, health care investment firm Deerfield Management. According to the announcement, the partnership will fund research in therapeutics, including in oncology, immunization, inflammation and neuroscience. 

A steering committee made up of university staff, representatives from the U. of C.’s Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, and members of Deerfield’s scientific team will evaluate projects “with the goal of achieving investigational new drug readiness on an accelerated timeline,” according to the announcement.

Bill Slattery, a partner at Deerfield, told the Heraldthat research projects will be evaluated based on criteria including the target being investigated, the tractability of that target and the commercial viability of the research. 

“There are two groups that are working in unison. One is the faculty in their lab, on the University of Chicago campus,” Slattery said. “At the same time, Deerfield Discovery and Development is funding and managing things externally.” 

The research project is expected to take years, from lab work to drug development, Slattery said. 

“Our partnership with the University of Chicago and the Polsky Center underscores Deerfield’s conviction in the significant translational potential of the research that takes place there,” said James Flynn, a Deerfield managing partner, in the press release. “In joining forces, we look forward to advancing compelling therapeutics together.”

Scott Oakes, professor and vice dean of clinical science research in the Biological Sciences Division at the U. of C., said the department is “thrilled” about the partnership. 

“This investment attests to the incredible science being done here and helps to advance our mission of bringing the fruits of that research to the world,” he said in the announcement.

Hyde Park Discovery is the latest in a series of biotech and biomedical research efforts the U. of C. has joined in recent years. In 2023, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative allocated $250 million to launch a biomedical research hub with the U. of C., Northwestern University and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Last year, the Polsky Center signed a strategic agreement with biopharmaceutical company Orange Grove Bio to support “pipeline development, entrepreneurial training, and funding opportunities.”. 

Looking ahead, Slattery said Deerfield is interested in future collaboration opportunities with the university. 

“Although this is a collaboration that is focused on therapeutics, we’re very interested in other ideas outside of therapeutics, like medical devices and the AI and machine learning world of health care,” he told the Herald. “In particular, UChicago has tremendous artificial intelligence resources. That doesn’t fall under this collaboration, but you can bet that we’re talking with the university about some of these ideas and with some of the engineers that are developing AI tools for better outcomes for drug discovery.”