Healthcare Innovation Campus in Development for New York City

In a major move, Deerfield Management Company L.P. is investing $635 million to create a transformative life sciences campus in New York City, designed to integrate the capabilities of innovators from academia, government, industry and the not-for-profit sectors to tackle unmet needs in healthcare. Deerfield additionally announced that it intends to commit more than $2 billion in research and seed funding by 2030 to develop much-needed new and innovative medicines and treatment solutions. Deerfield expects this infrastructure and funding to contribute to the prevention, cure or management of dozens of still deadly and debilitating diseases.  
 
As the foundation of this undertaking, Deerfield has acquired the 345 Park Ave. South property, which boasts more than 300,000 square feet. The site, designated a NYCLifeSci campus, will bring together scientists, entrepreneurs and organizations from around the world to work shoulder-to-shoulder to conceive of and develop new treatments and better ways to prevent and defeat disease. The campus will provide turnkey laboratories, and engineering and computing space, as well as other amenities and supportive services.  
 
“We are proud to be part of a community of people in New York who strive to save and extend lives. Creating an environment in which innovative thinking, ground-breaking advances in scientific discovery and where the development of new paradigms of patient care will occur every day is tremendously exciting,” said James Flynn, managing partner of Deerfield.  
 
“We are thrilled that our partnership with Deerfield will not only create quality jobs for New Yorkers but will also help provide a home for emerging companies to develop breakthrough scientific discoveries. New York City already has the best research institutions in the world. By investing in this Life Sciences campus to bring new lab space and programming for healthcare and early-stage biotech companies, we can strengthen the City’s position as a global leader in life sciences,” said NYCEDC President and CEO James Patchett.
 
The $540 million in financing for the acquisition and renovation of this was led by Blackstone Real Estate, which has been a strong supporter of life sciences.  
 
Nadeem Meghji, senior managing director, head of Real Estate Americas at Blackstone, said, “We are thrilled to finance this important project, which will advance life sciences research in New York City. With our investment in BioMed Realty, and elsewhere across our businesses, life sciences is among our highest priority investment sectors. We look forward to continuing to support the growing demand for research and innovation.”
 
The building construction and programming is being backed by the New York City Economic Development Corporation and Industrial Development Agency. It is expected to be in move-in ready condition for Deerfield and other innovators in healthcare by early 2021.
 
Due to obstacles, including a lack of capital and siloed approaches, promising new therapies and improvements in care management frequently fail to make it to patients. In addition to leveraging the value of public and private organizations in developing solutions, the Deerfield innovation campus will pursue all forms of technology, including digital, medical device and biotherapeutic approaches. 
 
“Many leaders have come together to build this incredible ecosystem, capable of accelerating the fight against disease. This campus should create the ideal backdrop to advance innovation,” said Alex Karnal, partner and portfolio manager at Deerfield. “We are grateful to our partners, including the New York City Economic Development Corporation and Blackstone, as without them, this ambitious project might not have been possible.”
 
Having proven its ability to mobilize innovators in this space, MATTER, a healthcare focused incubator, in collaboration with Deerfield, will be supporting startups of all stages within the innovation campus. MATTER has developed extensive specialized programs to train C-suite executives in the early stages of their career and to introduce young companies to established organizations for mentorship, collaboration and potential acquisition. Combined with Deerfield’s operating support capabilities which extends to legal, finance, information technology, human resources, and market research, among other skillsets, companies formed within the campus will have unparalleled access to capabilities of the highest quality at low cost.
 
“Deerfield’s expertise and resources, combined with MATTER’s capabilities and experience, will create a healthcare and life sciences campus unlike any other,” said MATTER CEO Steven Collens. “We are thrilled to be a part of this endeavor to help entrepreneurs and innovators develop technologies and solutions that will improve the healthcare experience.”
 
Along with new educational programming being developed—and to complement the services provided by MATTER—Deerfield also announced that it will be growing its existing Deerfield LifeSci NYC Fellows and Break into the Boardroom programs. Deerfield additionally introduced a new initiative, Women in Science, focused on training women on how to commercialize their potentially lifesaving discoveries and create companies. The investment company has a rich history of developing and leading programs supporting diversity.
 
Deerfield is an investment management firm committed to advancing healthcare through investment, information and philanthropy.