Invitae and Deerfield Management Partner to Create Novel Therapeutics for Rare Diseases

– The partnership will harness genetic and clinical data from millions of patients tested at Invitae and Deerfield's expertise in drug discovery to address high unmet needs among rare disease patients –

SAN FRANCISCO, March 22, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Invitae (NYSE: NVTA), a leading medical genetics company, and Deerfield Management Company, a healthcare investment firm, today announced a partnership to advance genetics-based drug discovery and development in rare disease. The partnership will leverage genetics and clinical data from millions of patients and Deerfield's broad drug discovery and development expertise.

"Invitae's core objectives include expanding access to genetic information to improve healthcare for patients. Through this partnership, we intend to serve millions of families affected by rare diseases with high unmet needs," said Farid Vij, general manager of patient network and data at Invitae. "Our genetic and clinical data platform is highly enriched with patients possessing rare disorders, enabling a deeper understanding of the natural history and genetic basis of these diseases, and improving the success rate of new clinical programs."

"Despite significant research efforts, there are thousands of rare diseases without a line of sight toward a viable therapeutic intervention," said Matt Nelson, head of genetics and genomics at Deerfield Management. "Invitae's unique data and analytics capabilities position it to interrogate genetic effects on rare and many other diseases. With Deerfield's extensive experience in rare diseases and drug discovery, we believe there is strong potential for this partnership to uncover valuable patient insights and create important therapies for a range of currently untreatable conditions." 

Precision medicine offers great promise to address unmet needs of rare disease patients, but to be successful, scientists need access to focused genetic and clinical data across sizable patient populations. For rare diseases, these data are hard to find. For example, large scale genetic biobanks have been valuable for driving forward research, but they, at times, leave rare disease researchers searching for additional data on symptomatic and diverse patients. 

Invitae and Deerfield aim to address notable research gaps by drawing insights from Invitae's data platform, which includes sizable cohorts of rare disease patients. The companies will collaborate to analyze data from the over 3.6 million genetic tests delivered by Invitae linked to longitudinal clinical data, strictly in accordance with patients' preferences for sharing of their data. With these data and analytics expertise, together Invitae and Deerfield will be well-suited to uncover insights needed to discover and validate novel rare disease targets.

"Both large and small biopharma companies are constantly seeking ways to improve efficiency and success rates in their discovery and development programs. This partnership demonstrates how Invitae can support biopharma partners in discovering and validating new precision therapies," said Daniel Anderson, head of patient network and data partnerships at Invitae. "Beyond the opportunity to deliver new medicines together with the Deerfield team, this partnership further substantiates the many ways our unique datasets and analytical capabilities can create value." 

About Invitae
Invitae (NYSE: NVTA) is a leading medical genetics company trusted by millions of patients and their providers to deliver timely genetic information simplified by digital technology. With accurate and actionable answers to strengthen medical decision-making, Invitae gives individuals and their families powerful, personalized insights that could improve and extend their lives. Invitae's genetics experts apply a rigorous approach to data and research, serving as the foundation of their mission to bring comprehensive genetic information into mainstream medicine to improve healthcare for billions of people.

To learn more, visit invitae.com and follow for updates on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn @Invitae.

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, visit www.deerfield.com.

Safe Harbor Statement
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements relating to the company's goals with respect to the partnership; the intended structure and potential benefits of the partnership; the company's intentions regarding the number of families that the partnership will serve; the company's beliefs regarding the capabilities of its data platform; the company's beliefs that the partnership may uncover valuable patient insights and create important new therapies; and the company's belief that this partnership demonstrates how its unique datasets and analytical capabilities can create value. Forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially, and reported results should not be considered as an indication of future performance. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to:  the impact of inflation and the current economic environment on the company's business; the company's ability to grow its business in a cost-efficient manner; the company's history of losses; the company's ability to maintain important customer relationships; the company's ability to compete; the company's need to scale its infrastructure in advance of demand for its tests and to increase demand for its tests; the applicability of clinical results to actual outcomes; risks associated with litigation; the company's ability to use rapidly changing genetic data to interpret test results accurately and consistently; security breaches, loss of data and other disruptions; laws and regulations applicable to the company's business; and the other risks set forth in the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the risks set forth in the company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date hereof, and Invitae Corporation disclaims any obligation to update these forward-looking statements.

Invitae PR contact: 
Amy Hadsock
[email protected] 
(628) 213-3283

Deerfield PR contact: 
Caroline Drucker
[email protected] 
(917) 588-3016

SOURCE Invitae Corporation