On Jun. 29, 2015, the Life Sciences Discovery Fund Authority (LSDF) was defunded by the Washington State Legislature, and a total of $62 million was transferred from the LSDF’s budget to the state’s general fund. The LFDF was created in 2005 as an agency of the state and governed by a board of trustees.

The Authority was established as an account in the State Treasury and a total of $350 million in tobacco settlement funds was be used to attract an additional $650 million in private capital. The $1 billion fund was to be used to help finance groundbreaking research and development of biomedical and other scientific advances to ease human suffering and make Washington a center for these activities.