Hospitals fund $35M lab-to-market venture fund

A group of Boston's Harvard-affiliated hospitals are setting up a $35 million venture capital fund focused on moving inventions more quickly from the lab to the market. Working through corporate parent Partners HealthCare, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Massachusetts General Hospital are kicking off the fund with an initial investment of $3 million. The two hope to hit their funding goal over the next 10 years.

The new fund already has made one minor investment, sinking between $200,000 and $500,000 in a removable tattoo ink product. But the two hospitals expect to invest in more substantial drug and device lines shortly. "The main goal is to get the technology to the right place faster and not have early science languishing because you can't find $200,000," said Christopher Colecchi, vice president of research ventures and licensing at Partners.

To learn more about the fund:
- read this piece in The Boston Globe

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