Bluefield Innovations, a collaboration between Deerfield Management and The Johns Hopkins University to catalyze early stage therapeutic development, announced today the acceptance and funding of its first project. The target, the enzyme RNA polymerase I (Pol I), is implicated in many forms of cancer.

Deerfield Management and The Johns Hopkins University announced today the creation of Bluefield Innovations, a collaboration designed to catalyze the development of early stage therapeutics. Funded by Deerfield, an investment management firm committed to advancing healthcare, Bluefield Innovations will provide up to $65 million in initial funding over five years to support the commercialization of early stage therapeutic research at Johns Hopkins, with additional funding available to advance research showing strong commercial potential.