CHICAGO, USA. January 29, 2026.
The University of Chicago and health care investment firm Deerfield Management announced today the launch of Hyde Park Discovery, a collaboration to advance the development of new drugs and other life-saving treatments for disease.
Over the next ten years, Deerfield will provide up to $130 million in targeted funding, as well as operational and scientific expertise to advance UChicago discoveries with the potential to improve disease treatments.
“The Biological Sciences Division at UChicago and the UChicago Medicine health system comprise a distinct environment that brings together basic researchers studying fundamental biology and physicians who provide advanced patient care. It is crucial to have the kind of support and innovative capabilities that Deerfield brings to accelerate discoveries and create meaningful results for our community and the world,” said Mark Anderson, dean of the Biological Sciences Division and the Pritzker School of Medicine and executive vice president for Medical Affairs at UChicago.
In addition to this new collaboration, UChicago is also part of several other initiatives that further enhance the commercialization ecosystem on the South Side of Chicago. Other efforts include the UChicago Science Incubator at Hyde Park Labs, a strategic agreement with Orange Grove Bio to catalyze biotech innovation, and the Chan Zuckerberg Biohub Chicago, through which nine UChicago-led projects were recently awarded a total of $7.2 million to support visionary early-stage research.
“Bringing innovative ideas and technologies from the University of Chicago ecosystem to the world is the mission of the Polsky Center, and collaborations such as this help us make this goal a reality,” said Samir Mayekar, associate vice president and managing director of the Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, which houses the University’s official technology transfer office. “Backed by Deerfield’s scientific capabilities, we are optimistic that this agreement and the work that follows will result in new potential treatments and cures getting into the hands of the patients who need them.”
A joint steering committee made up of leadership from UChicago, the Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, and Deerfield’s scientific team will evaluate projects based on several criteria with the goal of achieving Investigational New Drug readiness on an accelerated timeline. This operating model has the potential to bring new drugs to the market more quickly and cost-effectively.
“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, managing partner at Deerfield. “In joining forces, we look forward to advancing compelling therapeutics together.”
The University of Chicago is on the forefront of groundbreaking research and clinical development with a leading academic medical system, more than 160 interdisciplinary institutes and centers, and 50 state-of-the-art core facilities.
World-class faculty bring together the fundamentals of medicine and advanced technology breakthroughs, along with expertise in computer science, AI, materials science, chemistry, and more. Last year, these researchers brought in more than $750 million in federal research awards.
“We are thrilled about partnering with Deerfield in the pursuit of commercializing discoveries made at the University of Chicago that have the potential to impact patient care,” said Scott Oakes, professor and vice dean of clinical science research in the Biological Sciences Division at UChicago. “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.”
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