Spectrum Business Ventures Founder and CEO Amit Raizada announced this week that the firm will redouble its commitment to investing in innovative medical research and technologies that deliver cutting-edge treatments to individuals desperate for innovation and significant returns to partners and investors.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has shown the extent to which public health emergencies can disrupt and upend our everyday lives,” said Raizada. “The private sector has a responsibility to help catalyze the innovations that can help our society avoid future instances like the coronavirus pandemic. SBV is committed to backing the ventures and firms making strides on the biomedical research front.”
Raizada’s announcement comes at a time when the pandemic’s long term economic and social effects have become increasingly apparent. As the country enters the month of August, the traditional back-to-school season, children in many states will be asked to attend their classes online. At the same time, a report released by Commerce Department found that the U.S. economy contracted at an annualized rate of more than 32 percent in the second quarter—the largest such quarterly decline in history.
“COVID-19 has changed the way we live our lives,” said Raizada. “Plenty of innovators are currently working on a vaccine, but SBV seeks to look to the future. We aim to support researchers looking for ways to mitigate a number of maladies—from infectious diseases to cancer to heart disease—before they reach crisis scale, helping ensure public health emergencies of this magnitude never recur.”
SBV has long sought to back pioneering medical technology ventures. Under Raizada’s leadership, the firm has backed the SinuSleeve, an ear, nose, and throat treatment that has revolutionized the way patients receive sinus care, and has invested in revolutionary cancer drugs that weaponize the body’s immune system against tumors.
