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Deerfield Management, a prolific backer of biotechnology companies, has raised more than $600 million to invest further in young companies working on drugs, medical devices and healthcare services.
The third of its kind from Deerfield, the fund will operate out of a New York City campus called “Cure” that helps nurture startups and be aided by the firm’s close collaboration with a network of nearly 30 academic institutions.
“There has never been a better time to invest in new and evolving technologies and products across the life science, medical technology and healthcare service landscape,” said managing partner James Flynn, in a statement. “Advancing knowledge, data and software capabilities are transforming what is possible to achieve in improving health outcomes.”
Deerfield was formed in 1994 and currently has over $15 billion in assets under management. The firm has more than 200 privately held as well as publicly traded companies across the spectrum of healthcare in its portfolio. It also offers a variety of different funding models, from traditional equity financings to debt and warrant deals.
Deerfield has a focus on biotech creation and early drug research, too. Deals with universities have yielded startups like Bridge Medicines, Vescor Therapeutics and Amethyst Innovations. The firm was also an early investor in companies like Nuvalent, Bicara Therapeutics and Arvinas, all of which are now publicly traded.
The firm backed fewer drug startups in 2024 versus the previous two years, according to data compiled by BioPharma Dive. That year, Deerfield disclosed venture investments in three makers of human medicines — cancer-focused BridgeBio Oncology Therapeutics and Frontier Medicines, as well as Elion Therapeutics, which is developing treatments for fungal infections — versus five and seven in 2023 and 2022, respectively. It’s revealed one so far in 2025, participating in a Series A round for eye drug developer Perceive Pharma.
Those investments were tallied during a recalibration of biotech venture funding, with venture firms coalescing around a smaller number of surer bets that often come in the form of $100 million-plus “megarounds.” Deals involving the roughly two dozen firms tracked by BioPharma Dive reached a low point of about $2.4 billion in the fourth quarter of 2023, but have since trended higher along as round sizes have increased.
Deerfield secured $840 million for its previous healthcare venture fund in April 2020. It joins Sofinnova Partners, Curie.Bio and a16z in closing new biotech funds this year.
