SAN DIEGO – Gary and Mary West, co-founders of the West Wireless Health Institute, announced Oct. 19 the formation of a $100 million investment fund with a mission to lower healthcare costs. The West Health Investment Fund, LLC was created to spur the development and adoption of healthcare innovations specifically focused on making healthcare more affordable.
"As entrepreneurs, Mary and I are acutely aware of the pressing need to do something about the cost of healthcare," said Gary West. "We see a void in investment funding focused specifically on lowering the cost of healthcare. We are launching the West Health Investment Fund to help close that gap and to provide resources to companies who we believe are going to help drive down the cost of healthcare for the benefit of individuals and society in general."
[See also: Healthcare IT funding, M&A activity surges]"The Fund is a logical next step for us,” he added, “as we work to create a vibrant ecosystem around healthcare innovation to lower health care costs. Since Mary and I established the West Wireless Health Institute in 2009, we have seen literally hundreds of companies focused on innovative and low cost healthcare solutions that cannot find funding. Without financial support for low cost healthcare innovation, the research we do at the Institute and the work other agencies, institutions and entrepreneurs are undertaking will have a tougher path toward becoming a reality and actually lowering health care costs for the public."
The West Health Investment Fund's initial portfolio includes:
- Biological Dynamics, whose next-generation diagnostics technology may enable physicians to detect cancer from a simple blood draw and rapidly intervene, increasing patient survivability while driving down the cost of care;
- Change Healthcare, whose Web-based decision support tool Transparency Messenger provides consumers with personalized views of pricing information and alerts on where to save money on routine healthcare services including medical, dental and prescriptions;
- goBalto, whose new generation Web-based solutions simplify pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device clinical research;
- Healthsense, whose in-home monitoring sensors and solutions alert family members and providers of potential health problems before they become acute, enabling seniors to remain healthy and independent;
- Humedica, a clinical informatics company whose analytics for healthcare organizations delivers a truly longitudinal and comprehensive view of patient care; and,
- Sotera Wireless, whose new generation of continuous vital signs monitoring improves the safety of patients on the general floor of hospitals, while at the same time reducing costs.
The Fund's areas of interest include healthcare technologies, data analytics, technology-enabled services, cost transparency, and interoperability. These areas offer significant opportunities to transform healthcare delivery and lower health care costs encountered by individuals, health plans, providers and governmental programs such as Medicare, Medicaid and the VA.
[See also: 11 health IT startups go for the money ]"Today's announcement moves us one step closer to tangible healthcare solutions that will lower health costs for the benefit of the public," said Don Casey, who was named manager of the West Health Investment Fund and also serves as CEO of the West Wireless Health Institute. "As both successful entrepreneurs and philanthropists, Gary and Mary West have created a truly unique fund. Financial returns from the investments made will sustain the mission of the Wests' philanthropic endeavors to discover and develop new tools to deliver low cost healthcare more efficiently and effectively, rather than benefitting any corporation or individual."
Gary and Mary West will not individually profit from the investments made by the West Health Investment Fund, committing returns instead to medical research. The structure also differs from a traditional investment fund, as there are no management fees, there is no carried interest, and compensation for the management team is salaried.
The West Health Investment Fund targets primarily early stage opportunities with a strong preference for pre-commercial and early commercial companies. Its preferred investment candidates will value strategic partnership in addition to investment capital.
