Recently I’ve begun reading a blog called The Medical Futurist which offers some very interesting fare. In addition to some intriguing speculation, it includes some research that I haven’t seen anywhere else. (It is written by a physician named Bertalan Mesko.)
In this case, Mesko has buried a shrewd and well-researched piece on Alphabet’s healthcare investments in an otherwise rambling article. (The rambling part is actually pretty interesting on its own, by the way.)
The piece offers a rather comprehensive update on Alphabet’s investments in and partnerships with healthcare-related companies, suggesting that no other contender in Silicon Valley is investing in this sector heavily as Alphabet’s GV (formerly Google Ventures). I don’t know if he’s right about this, but it’s probably true.
By Mesko’s count, GV has backed almost 60 health-related enterprises since the fund was first kicked off in 2009. These investments include direct-to-consumer genetic testing firm 23andme, health insurance company Oscar Health, telemedicine venture Doctor on Demand and Flatiron Health, which is building an oncology-focused data platform.
Mesko also points out that GV has had an admirable track record so far, with five of the companies it first backed going public in the last year. I’m not sure I agree that going public is per se a sign of success — a lot depends on how the IPO is received by Wall Street– but I see his logic.
In addition, he notes that Alphabet is stocking up on intellectual resources. The article cites research by Ernest & Young reporting that Alphabet filed 186 healthcare-related patents between 2013 and 2017.
Most of these patents are related to DeepMind, which Google acquired in 2014, and Verily Life Sciences (formerly Google Life Sciences). While these deals are interesting in and of themselves, on a broader level the patents demonstrate Alphabet’s interest in treating chronic illnesses like diabetes and the use of bioelectronics, he says.
Meanwhile, Verily continues to work on a genetic data-collecting initiative known as the Baseline Study. It plans to leverage this data, using some of the same algorithms behind Google’s search technology, to pinpoint what makes people healthy.
It’s a grand and somewhat intimidating picture.
Obviously, there’s a lot more to discuss here, and even Mesko’s in-depth piece barely scratches the surface of what can come out of Alphabet and Google’s health investments. Regardless, it’s worth keeping track of their activity in the sector even if you find it overwhelming. You may be working for one of those companies someday.
