Johns Hopkins, investment firm make $65M available for early stage research

Johns Hopkins University is backing a new effort to support drug discovery research that could lead to new companies.
The Baltimore university and New York-based investment firm Deerfield Management created Bluefield Innovations to provide funding for early-stage therapeutic research at JHU.
The venture is providing $65 million for research over five years, with the potential for more funding to back research that shows “strong commercial potential,” according to a release.
“Our relationship with Deerfield will provide a fully funded and professionally supported avenue for Johns Hopkins researchers to deliver on the potential of their promising work,” JHU President Ronald Daniels said in a statement.
Bluefield will support pre-clinical research, with the goal of licensing the technology is developed or spinning it out into new companies. The research will be chosen by a joint steering committee.
The collaboration points to Hopkins’ recent emphasis on activities that could turn research into viable companies. The school has traditionally been a leader in pulling in research funding, but development beyond that has lagged behind.
Deerfield Management managing partner James Flynn called Hopkins’ drug discovery research talent “a tremendous asset in enabling Bluefield to move the innovations of Hopkins’ scientists forward toward their therapeutic.”applications.”