San Francisco-based healthcare services company McKesson Corp. said it has launched a venture fund to invest in healthcare companies, targeting firms that plan new products tied to the growing consumerism within healthcare.
The initiative, dubbed McKesson Ventures, plans to invest millions in companies that are in their early or growth stages.
“McKesson Ventures will help us support the development and commercialization of innovations taking place across healthcare,” said CEO John Hammergren, in a statement. “By investing and partnering with entrepreneurs and other investors that can bring new approaches to the challenges our customers are facing, we will accelerate the innovation cycle and further strengthen the value we provide to industry stakeholders across all segments.
McKesson also said it has tapped Tom Rodgers, who led the venture capital division at Cambria Health, the lead the new fund.
McKesson is one of the largest public companies in healthcare, with a market capitalization of nearly $48 billion, providing a gamut of services and technology to healthcare providers and payers. It’s stock market share prices in 2014 have risen from a 52-week low of $156 to above $206 as of Friday afternoon.
A Dec. 9 report by analytics company CB Insights found venture capital investments in digital health are growing at even a faster rate than investments in biotech and pharmaceuticals. The sector has seen more than $3 billion in investments in 2014, compared to a little more than $2 billion in 2013.