‘A Strategic Angle’: BioscienceLA CEO Talks About Leading Health Care Innovation After The COVID-19 Pandemic

Despite devastating the global economy and harming the health of millions, the COVID-19 pandemic prompted a boost in health care innovation.

That’s according to David Whelan, CEO at BioscienceLA, to whom Benzinga spoke regarding opportunities in health and his organization’s role in bolstering innovation.

Background: Whelan began his career in business after studying artificial intelligence at Stanford University.

“I spent a couple of years working in biotech venture capital, a kind of family office incubator,” he said. “That opened my eyes to biotech and I spent several years as an executive recruiter, building management teams.”

At and around the dot-com boom, Whelan secured an MBA from UCLA Anderson School and became involved in fitness and nutrition; he eventually participated in the launch of early tracking wearable technology, long before Alphabet Inc-owned (NASDAQ: GOOGL) (NASDAQ: GOOG) Fitbit and Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL).

“It was a lot of great data and no way to share it,” he recalled.

After moving on to help launch the New York Genome Center as senior vice president of business development and chief strategy officer, Whelan decided he could apply his skills building health innovation ecosystems back home.

“Los Angeles was starting to grow its life sciences industry and I moved here in 2000 when there was not even a tech industry,” he added.

“I was involved with organizations like the Cedars-Sinai Accelerator, where I was a mentor from the beginning, … and, as the independent ecosystem catalyst BioscienceLA was being formed, I saw they were recruiting and threw my hat in the ring for CEO.”

Pictured: David Whelan, CEO at BioscienceLA.

HealthTech And COVID-19: In March 2020, Whelan became CEO of Bioscience LA. At and around the same time, COVID-19 restrictions surfaced, making it difficult to lead change. As a result, Whelan got creative.

“The spirit of BioscienceLA is going out there, taking the building blocks that exist, and assembling them,” he remarked.

Out of the firm’s growth initiatives with partners such as Wavemaker Three-Sixty Health, BioscienceLA launched a diversity-focused internship program called BioFutures.

“My goal is to have 100 interns next summer,” Whelan discussed on adding to the program’s 28 interns currently working in bio-, med-, and digital-health technology. “We’re not only investing in the students. It’s an investment in the school they go to. It’s an investment in the company, too, because we’re subsidizing internships.”

The vision with BioFutures is to have half a million dollars trickle down into early-stage life sciences companies, which may translate into money spent on research and clinical trials, among other things.

“All of these things come together to not just grow the industry and ecosystem through our direct investments, but then, more importantly, grow it through indirect investments, as well.”

Scaling BioFutures: At its core, BioFutures is a two-sided marketplace.

Interested students apply the same as if they were going to college, answering short-essay questions and submitting resumes. On the other side of the marketplace are companies looking to bring on and nurture talent.

“It’s not a charity program and there’s a strategic angle for the companies,” Whelan said. “It’s a win for the company and students.”

Given that the pandemic forced businesses to look for diverse problem solvers who can collaborate effectively in remote and virtual environments, Whelan is dead set on increasing the program’s size and making it available year-round.

“There is so much young talent coming into the working force without a sense of direction,” Sree Batchu of BioscienceLA said in an additional note to Benzinga. “BioFutures allows students to dip their feet into and get excited about life sciences, helping bolster the community’s growth.”

Areas To Impact: When asked about innovations with the most potential to grow as a result of trends and BioscienceLA’s work in the space, Whelan pointed to telehealth.

“Telehealth, logistically, is a way to make healthcare accessible to many more people,” the CEO said on the industry’s rapid growth over the past year. “Telehealth will become even more a part of people’s routines, going forward.”

Innovations to benefit, as a result, also include at-home diagnostic testing, cell and gene therapy, as well as digital therapeutics.

“We have leading technologies around AR and VR to be used as therapeutics,” Whelan said on alternatives to opioid treatments. “The intersection of mental health and telemedicine, the intersection of fitness, wellness, nutrition — how it all applies to mental health — all of that exploded over the past year.”

Going Forward: Given COVID-19, there are a ton of new health challenges to get after.

In particular, both businesses and governments are taking note of two factors — regulatory and reimbursement issues — that have garnered a lot of attention.

“We as a population, government, or industry need to find ways to get aligned where we can help more people effectively and not lose sight of what we’re trying to accomplish,” he said.

Whelan pointed to innovation-friendly cities like Miami, as well as initiatives such as BioscienceLA, creating an opportunity for entrepreneurs, companies, and investors to make more of an impact.

Photo: BioscienceLA team stands in front of headquarters construction in Culver City, California. Courtesy of BioScienceLA.