US-based healthcare system operator Partners HealthCare has pumped $80m into its corporate venturing activities, launching two new investment vehicles yesterday.
Partners Healthcare is channelling $50m over six years into Translational Innovation Fund, which is intended to fund companies developing drugs that are in the preclinical stage, paying particular attention to discoveries made in hospitals the company oversees.
A further $30m will go to Artificial Intelligence and Digital Translation Fund over a five-year period. The vehicle will support the development of digital health technologies and will collaborate with Partners Healthcare vendors on testing and integrating the products.
The company already invests in startups through Partners Innovation Fund (PIF), a unit it set up in 2008 with $35m from Partners hospitals Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital.
PIF has a 37-strong portfolio including spinoffs, and its past exits include genomic editing technology developer Editas Medicine, which currently has a market cap of more than $1bn, as well as bacterial infections drug developer Spero Therapeutics and messenger RNA drug developer Translate Bio.
Roger Kitterman, vice-president of venture for Partners HealthCare Innovation, is managing partner for both of the new funds.
Anne Klibanski, president and CEO of Partners HealthCare, said: “As one of the nation’s largest research enterprises, Partners HealthCare is uniquely positioned to assess and understand the potential of the therapies and technologies we will invest in. These funds are a major step forward in accelerating the application of medical research.
“These investments will enable patients to more quickly benefit from the life-changing breakthroughs developed by our investigators and clinicians while also helping to fuel the life sciences and digital health industries throughout this region.”
