The tech giant now appears to be attacking this industry from two directions, including direct investments and internal development of pharma-targeted efforts.
Google’s interest in healthcare is not new, and the company has invested in dozens of healthcare startups in the past. The tech giant now appears to be laying the groundwork for a future in pharmaceuticals and is attacking this industry from two directions, including direct investments and internal development of pharma-targeted efforts.
Regarding the former, Google Ventures has made 17 deals to pharmaceutical startups in the past 3 years. This is a shift given that from 2009-2014, the company only completed 7 deals. Recent first-time deals completed in 2017 include Fulcrum Therapeutics (gene therapy), Arsanis (anti-bacterials), Spero Therapeutics (anti-bacterials), and BlackThorn Therapeutics (neurobehavioral disorders).
Here is a search showing Google’s investments into pharma companies since 2009, pictured in the chart below. The deal search includes all of Google’s biotechnology deals, a few of which are outside pharmaceuticals.
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