University of Michigan has become the latest academic institution to strike a $130m fund partnership with Deerfield Management.

University of Michigan (U-M) yesterday partnered US-based healthcare-focused investment firm Deerfield Management for a $130m fund that will drive the institution’s drug research.
The vehicle, dubbed Great Lakes Discoveries, will back U-M projects throughout preclinical development, with Deerfield picking up those with greatest potential for its clinical-stage portfolio.
Great Lakes Discoveries joins a string of academic drug discovery funds for Deerfield in recent years, such as the $130m Orchard Innovations with Weizmann Institute of Science’s commercialisation unit announced in January 2020.
The fund will begin operations this coming autumn, specifically targeting effective rare disease treatments and other indications with unmet needs.
In exchange for funding, Great Lakes Discovery will have the option to license any intellectual property resulting from the partnership.
Great Lakes Discovery will report to Kelly Sexton, associate vice-president for research, technology transfer and innovation partnerships, while its dealflow will be evaluated by scientific representatives of both Deerfield and the university.
Sexton said U-M possessed a “massive” pipeline, with more than 130 drug projects currently in preclinical discovery, target validation or repurposing. “This funding will help us to realise the promise of this pipeline,” she added.
Deerfield’s earlier academic funds include partnerships with University of Illinois at Chicago, Columbia University, Johns Hopkins University and Northwestern University.