Rob Coppedge, chief executive of Echo Health Ventures, a joint venture by care provider Cambia Health Solutions and health insurance supplier Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina; Tom Rodgers, senior vice-president and managing director of McKesson Ventures, the corporate venture capital division of pharmaceuticals distributor McKesson; and Bill Taranto, president of pharmaceutical firm Merck & Co’s Global Health Innovation Fund (GHI), discussed healthcare-focused CVC structures.
Julie Murchinson, former CEO of healthcare events and data provider Health Evolution and adviser for venture capital firm Health Velocity Capital, opened the session asking the panellists about the relationships the CVC units had with their parent companies.
At Echo Health Ventures, the team reported to boards of the two parent companies and the chief executives and chief financial officers additionally served as connection points.
Coppedge said: “We have a team of people who are the connective tissue between our deal sourcing and our market, activities, back into the workflow and life of our parent company.”
Rodgers and his team at McKesson Ventures reported to the head of strategy but had dotted lines of governance to the CEO and chief financial officer. The strategy team built bridges between McKesson Ventures and other McKesson business units.
At Merck GHI, the CVC team reported to the chief executive. Taranto said that his team’s evolution with their parent company had changed a bit – while the team used to be quite independent, it was now more aligned and found tools and applications in which to invest with the best interest of the company.