CURE OPENS XSEED AWARD APPLICATIONS TO SUPPORT UNDERFUNDED AND UNDERREPRESENTED NYC LIFE SCIENCE STARTUPS WITH UP TO $500,000

NEW YORK, April 9, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Cure®, a healthcare innovation campus in New York City, has opened applications to the XSeed Award, an annual competitive program designed to disrupt the status quo by supporting traditionally underfunded and underrepresented minority- and women-led life science and healthcare startups working on drug development in New York City. Deerfield Management, a New York City-based healthcare investment firm, founded and supports the XSeed Award. 

In 2024, two winning teams will become eligible to receive up to $250,000 each. They also will join the Cure ecosystem with their fellow awardees to receive entrepreneurship mentoring and networking designed to help them move promising translational research to the marketplace and commercial success. The deadline for XSeed Award application submissions is May 31, 2024, and virtual finalist presentations will be June 28, 2024. The program will announce winners on Sept. 2, 2024, and they will receive honors at an official ceremony at Cure in October 2024. 

"The XSeed Award is designed to bring equity and diversity to life science and healthcare innovation, where ongoing barriers critically impact the cures developed for underserved communities and the careers of scientists from underrepresented communities. For example, Black and female scientists remain significantly less likely than their white or male colleagues to receive three or more NIH research grants, a threshold that academic institutions prioritize for faculty hires and retention,¹" said James E. Flynn, Managing Partner at Deerfield and Cure Founder. "Deerfield is pleased to continue our collaboration on the transformational XSeed program, alongside the NYCEDC, Cure and the experts who comprise our enthusiastic XSeed Award Leadership Committee."

In addition to advancing their research, the 2024 cohort of X-Seed Award winners will enhance their entrepreneurial skills, networks and visibility via the Cure ecosystem. Graduates of each cohort will then serve as mentors and coaches for future cohorts, further strengthening the entrepreneurial community in New York City.

"The Cure ecosystem of industry, investment and innovation experts is an ideal setting to mentor XSeed Award winners and hone their business knowledge to help their life science and healthcare achievements," said Seema Kumar, CEO of Cure. "We look forward to welcoming the XSeed Award winners who, along with the Cure Xchange Challenge winners, are startups advancing health through collaboration and community building via Cure."

Deerfield and the New York City Economic Development Corporation launched the XSeed Award as a yearly program in 2020 to provide funding to help address critical funding gaps for the diverse population of most talented researchers and entrepreneurs in New York City.  Advancium Health Network, an independent non-profit organization launched by Deerfield Management and dedicated to advancing healthcare and health equity, has helped operationalize the XSeed Awards since 2022.

"The XSeed Award program aims to break down barriers and create equal opportunity in the life sciences sector by supporting minority- and women-led research and early-stage ventures to help yield the medicines of tomorrow," said New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) Chief Strategy Officer Cecilia Kushner. "As Cure's ecosystem expands, the XSeed Award program will continue to help establish New York City as both a premier and inclusive hub for the life sciences industry. We are thrilled to be working alongside Deerfield and Cure again to support this important effort."

XSeed Leadership Committee
Finalists will present their work to an esteemed panel comprised of the XSeed Award Leadership Committee, which includes Joseph Pearlberg, MD, PhD, Vice President of Scientific Affairs at Deerfield and committee co-chair; Claire Pomeroy, MD, President and CEO of the Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation; Christine Brideau, Head of Preclinical Pharmacology, Deerfield Management; Glennis Mehra, Ph.D., Director of Biolabs@NYULangone; and Jane Williams, MD, MPH, Vice President, head of Neuroscience, Rare Disease and Pediatrics at Syneos Health. 

To learn more about the XSeed Award's applicant eligibility criteria and to submit applications, visit https://wewillcure.com/xseed-award

About XSeed
Deerfield created the XSeed Award program in September 2019 through a partnership with the New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) to aid the development of the Deerfield-founded healthcare innovation campus Cure. Deerfield and NYCEDC launched the XSeed Award in December 2020, with the first cohort of winners announced in April 2021.

Since its inception, the XSeed program has helped fill early-stage funding gaps within the life sciences industry by identifying and supporting promising translational research and commercial opportunities of underrepresented and underfunded startups, financially and through a mentorship cohort. To learn more about the XSeed Award, visit https://wewillcure.com/xseed-award.

About Deerfield Management
Deerfield is an investment management firm committed to advancing healthcare through investment, information and philanthropy. The Firm works across the healthcare ecosystem to connect people, capital, ideas and technology in bold, collaborative and inclusive ways. For more information, please visit www.deerfield.com.

About Cure.^®
Cure is a healthcare innovation campus in the heart of New York City that features laboratory and business facilities, a collaboration residency, office space and premium event venues, including an education center, conference center, and iconic rooftop facility, as well as tools, mentoring, networking, and other assistance to members of its ecosystem. Cure houses on-campus startup and established companies. Residents regularly create synergies and collaborative partnerships with peer organizations across the spectrum of healthcare, from academic or private to non-profit or government, and focus on diagnostic, device, drug or vaccine discovery, development and production as well as care delivery and public health. Cure also offers industry-leading event programming focused on critical health topics. Cure's mission is to foster and accelerate advances in health. For more information, please visit wewillcure.com.

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¹ Nguyen M, Chaudhry SI, Desai MM, Dzirasa K, Cavazos JE, Boatright D. Gender, Racial, and Ethnic and Inequities in Receipt of Multiple National Institutes of Health Research Project Grants. JAMA Netw Open. 2023;6(2):e230855. Published 2023 Feb 1. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.0855.

SOURCE Cure