Dive Brief:
- Google-parent Alphabet's life sciences arm Verily has raised $1 billion in a funding round led by private equity firm Silver Lake. Other investors include Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan and additional global investment management firms.
- The money will go toward strategic partnerships, global business opportunities and potential acquisitions, the company said.
- Alphabet CFO Ruth Porat and Egon Durban, managing partner and managing director of Silver Lake, are also joining Verily's board.
Dive Insight:
Verily has been steaming ahead with a number of healthcare initiatives. In 2017, the company debuted the Verily Study Watch, an investigational device aimed at collecting health data for research purposes. The watch, which is encrypted for safety and privacy, was initially tagged for studies on Parkinson's disease and longitudinal studies. The watch is also being sold in conjunction with the Baseline mobile app to build a database of biometric data.
Verily has also invested population health tools, surgical robotics and other interventions, sensor technologies and precision medicine — the latter through initiatives with Gilead, Biogen, AstraZeneca and others.
Last month, Verily partnered with Walgreens on a medication adherence pilot project. The two companies will also partner with virtual diabetes clinic Onduo to help people with Type 2 diabetes manage their disease.
"We are taking external funding to increase flexibility and optionality as we expand on our core strategic focus areas," Verily CEO Andrew Conrad said in a statement. "Adding a well-rounded group of seasoned investors, led by Silver Lake, will further prepare us to execute as healthcare continues the shift towards evidence generation and value-based reimbursement models."
Terms of the transaction were not revealed.
The investment round comes as David Feinberg, former president and CEO of Geisinger, has joined the Alphabet constellation as health strategy chief at Google. While at Geisinger, Feinberg oversaw vertical integrations and efforts to improve patient health through population health efforts, as well as integration of new technologies. His work at Google could overlap with Verily's health and life sciences projects.
