By Barbara Myers | Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine (PCOM) announces that it has committed through its Foundation the allocation of $5 million to a new venture capital fund designed to stimulate innovation and entrepreneurship in the healthcare field, with a specific focus on primary care.
Investments from across the country will be considered, with a focus on the Philadelphia and Atlanta, Georgia, metro areas. PCOM’s branch campus is located in Suwanee.
The Primary Care Innovation Fund is the first such endeavor in the College’s 117-year history and will invest in companies with established products and services that are healthcare-related and focused on primary care. PCOM is the first osteopathic medical school to establish such a fund.
Jay S. Feldstein, DO ’81, president and CEO of PCOM, says that the establishment of the fund underscores the College’s mission of advancing knowledge and intellectual growth broadly, and its commitment to the well-being of the community through leadership and service.
“The osteopathic philosophy focuses on prevention and maintaining wellness, and seeing the patient as a whole person—not just their symptoms. Through the Primary Care Innovation Fund, PCOM can extend that philosophy by investing in innovative opportunities nationally to improve and maintain patients’ quality of life,” adds Dr. Feldstein.
He added that he was hopeful the more than 13,000 osteopathic physicians and other healthcare professionals whom PCOM has educated could benefit from these innovations by addressing the quality, access and affordability of health care for their patients.
The fund will also provide myriad benefits for the College’s students, faculty, staff and alumni by opening doors financially to those who have a product or service appropriate for funding, and connecting those individuals to learning and networking opportunities within the investment community. The fund will focus on producing financial returns and as a result, offers the College a potential revenue stream that is not tuition-based.
Michael Cassidy, president and CEO of the Georgia Research Alliance (GRA), says of this proposal: “I am excited that PCOM will focus on investments to improve healthcare in Georgia and across the country. There are many opportunities for collaboration with healthcare institutions in the state.” Mr. Cassidy will represent Georgia on the fund’s advisory board. The GRA is a not-for-profit organization that grows Georgia’s economy by expanding university research capacity and by seeding and shaping startup companies around inventions and discoveries.
Dean Miller, a private equity and venture capital investor with strong regional and national ties to the healthcare and technology sectors, will manage the fund. Mr. Miller also serves as president and CEO of the Philadelphia Alliance for Capital and Technologies (PACT) and as a partner at Evergreen Industries LLC.
An advisory board comprised of physicians and business operators from Philadelphia and Atlanta will assist Mr. Miller in determining the feasibility and market demand for each potential investment. PCOM’s Executive Committee will serve as the Fund’s Board of Managers and, along with Mr. Miller, will make the final determinations on investments.
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