Healthcare investment firm Deerfield Management Co. will provide up to $65 million in funding for a new research collaboration with Boston Children's Hospital focused on drug discovery and development.
Boston Children's biomedical researchers will head up most of the work for the innovation project, with physicians and scientists having the opportunity to submit proposals for review to a committee of executives from both the health system and Deerfield, according to the Nov. 10 news release.
Deerfield created a new entity, named Blackfan Circle Innovations, for the collaboration. The name honors Boston Children's late faculty member Kenneth Blackfan, MD, who was a leader in childhood blood disorders and pediatric disease research. The company will provide development and operations support to help expedite cutting-edge treatments to patients across a wide variety of therapeutic areas, including rare diseases.
"Our focus is to accelerate our scientific discoveries into new treatments for children with rare and complex diseases," Boston Children's Hospital CEO Sandra Fenwick said in the news release. "This collaboration is a key part of our strategy to expand the resources and expertise available to Boston Children's world-class scientists and to help them expand the potential that their discoveries have the broadest impact on patient health."