Vanderbilt’s Ancora Partnership: A collaborative journey toward health care innovation

Since the inception of the Ancora Innovations partnership in 2018, Vanderbilt and Deerfield Management have enjoyed a robust collaboration. Deerfield's commitment includes significant support for advancing translational research and sponsorship of various events across Vanderbilt University and Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Recently, key members of Deerfield's leadership team spent two days at Vanderbilt to engage faculty in discussions about potential projects of mutual interest.

Deerfield Managementis one of the largest dedicated health care investment firms in the U.S., known for its extensive portfolio and expertise across various sectors within the healthcare ecosystem, including therapeutics, medical technologies, and health care services and IT. With a focus on innovation, Deerfield bridges the gap between academic research and commercial viability through its Deerfield Discovery and Developmentinitiative, which it calls 3DC.

During an informational session, Deerfield's Chief Operating Officer Nadim Shohdyshared Deerfield's evolving engagement strategies, emphasizing the need for earlier and more intentional discussions to identify research projects for investment. His insights highlighted Deerfield's commitment to working closely with Vanderbilt's Center for Technology Transfer and Commercializationto discover faculty-led research that aligns with Deerfield's investment interests.

Deerfield employs a comprehensive strategy that goes beyond merely funding research. Their 3DC initiative serves as a company-building R&D engine, offering tailored support, industry partnerships and access to an external vendor network. This holistic approach is designed to enable therapeutic value creation and streamline the path from academic research to commercialization.

With a team possessing more than 30 years of experience in biopharmaceuticals, the 3DC initiative plays a vital role in increasing the odds of success for academic technologies that are aimed at delivering clinical benefits. They actively seek projects in key therapeutic areas like inflammation and immunology, molecular oncology and neuroscience, focusing primarily on biologics and small molecules.

Invitation for Academic Collaboration

Deerfield encourages faculty and researchers at Vanderbilt who are working on translational projects addressing unmet clinical needs to connect. This is an excellent opportunity for academics to engage with a leading investment firm committed to advancing health care innovation. Researchers interested in exploring potential collaborations should contact Margaret Read, general manager of corporate alliances/scientific collaboration director for Ancora Innovations at CTTC.

By leveraging their extensive network and resources, Deerfield aims to foster innovative solutions and advance promising therapies to market. More information about Deerfield's academic collaborations is available online.