Japan-headquartered pharmaceutical firm Astellas Pharma formed a digital health investment fund called DigiTx Partners today as a joint venture with US-based life sciences venture capital firm MPM Capital.
DigiTx will fund digital health technology developers and in particular those capable of improving patient outcomes in synergy with a wider pharmaceutical business. The unit will prioritise early-stage companies but will consider later-stage investments as well.
The key areas in which Astellas operates are urology, oncology, immunology, nephrology and neuroscience. It already makes corporate venture capital investments out of its Astellas Venture Management fund but has so far focused on pharmaceutical startups.
Kenji Yasukawa, chief strategy officer of Astellas, said: “Exploring unprecedented medical solutions by leveraging Astellas’ strengths in the innovative drug business and integrating these strengths with various medical and healthcare areas is one of the important initiatives of our “Creating Innovation” strategy as part of Astellas Strategic Plan.
“Through the investment activities of DigiTx Partners, we will explore the business opportunities in the growing field of digital health and extend our knowledge in the area. We look forward to supporting those companies with technologies that will deliver innovative solutions impacting patients’ healthcare and wellness.”
David Kim, who has been the chief operating officer of medical predictive analysis technology provider Lumiata since 2012 after working at MPM until 2007, will head DigiTx.