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Harnessing venture philanthropy to accelerate medical progress

Lack of financial and human capital continues to hinder the development of successful biotechnology hubs. Venture philanthropy could be an important part of the solution.
  1. Juan Carlos López

    1. Haystack Science, New York, NY, USA.

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  2. Christian Suojanen

    1. The TTS Global Initiative, Miami, FL, USA.

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As governments around the world try to fulfil the translational and economic potential of the biomedical research they fund, one common strategy has been the creation of start-up incubators and seed funds. The ultimate goal is to foster a fully-fledged biotechnology hub — an ecosystem with all the elements for the development of new therapies: high-quality academic and clinical centres, sufficient venture capital, strong presence of the pharmaceutical industry and a vibrant cluster of biotech companies.

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Nature Reviews Drug Discovery 18, 809-810 (2019)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41573-019-00129-1

References

  1. Booth, B. Why Biotech's talent, capital and returns are consolidating into two key clusters. Forbes https://www.forbes.com/sites/brucebooth/2017/03/21/inescapable-gravity-of-biotechs-key-clusters-the-great-consolidation-of-talent-capital-returns (2017).

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  4. Timmerman, L. No more peanuts: Merck pays $20M for Harvard cancer drug. Forbes https://www.forbes.com/sites/luketimmerman/2016/03/22/no-more-peanuts-merck-pays-20m-for-harvard-cancer-drug (2016).

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Competing Interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

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