A private equity firm has stepped in to support a biological research laboratory at Harvard University and to launch a biotech venture aimed at developing new therapies for metabolic disorders. This initiative comes as Harvard faces significant funding cuts imposed by the Trump administration.
On Monday, university officials announced that İş Private Equity, a Turkish firm affiliated with İşbank Group, would invest $39 million in a lab directed by Gökhan Hotamışlıgil, a genetics and metabolism professor at the T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Additionally, the firm plans to allocate an undisclosed amount of capital for potential drug candidates emerging from Hotamışlıgil’s lab, which will be further developed under the newly established biotech company, Enlila.
While this investment may be considered modest within the broader landscape of investment banking, it represents crucial funding at a time when traditional models for supporting scientific research are facing unprecedented challenges.