Scott is a Partner on NEA’s Healthcare team. He was Venture Partner at NEA from 2007 to 2017, until being appointed the 23rd Commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), where he served from 2017 to 2019. In addition to his role as an investor, Scott is a physician, policy expert, and advocate for healthcare entrepreneurship, innovation, and access.
What’s something exciting you’re seeing in healthcare innovation?
We’re currently in the early phases of adapting artificial intelligence to improve drug development and healthcare delivery. Being engaged in advancing these opportunities gives us the chance to profoundly influence public health. Some of the most significant potential lies in large language models capable of processing natural language, particularly when applied to improving patient care. While hundreds of AI medical devices have been cleared or approved by the FDA, most are based on machine learning tools that are trained on closed data sets. We expect to see innovators begin to develop AI tools based on large language models, and some of these applications will be disruptive, helping to improve healthcare efficiency and outcomes.
How has your time at the FDA served you in your investing role?
At the FDA we were focused on public health impact and helping to identify and advance innovations that we believed could offer substantial progress in the public health sector, and I’m carrying that same framework to the private sector. As investors we’re measuring potential value by how much public health impact we believe an innovation can offer and whether we’re going to be able to fulfill an unmet medical need. We’re looking at opportunities through that same lens—through the lens of how much we believe a new innovation can promote public health.
What keeps you interested in this space?
We’re at a point of unprecedented innovation in healthcare. First, in the life sciences, we’re seeing advancements through our understanding of biology and the ability for disease intervention in very targeted ways. This is being achieved using novel platforms like cell and gene therapies, or by targeting nucleic acids, for example. There are also new methods for diagnosing disease, such as the application of sequencing and multiomics, that allow us to glean more insights. Healthcare delivery is also evolving, with better ways to organize care through digitally enabled services, and now through the application of machine learning to healthcare. The application of technology to healthcare holds immense potential for improving people's lives. I’m grateful to be in a position to help identify and advance these innovations through the capital and guidance we can provide.
How do you hope to see this space evolve in the future?
We’ve long discussed providing the right drug to the right patient at the right time. We’ve made significant advances that help providers deliver more timely and targeted interventions. These advances are crucial not only for treating diseases but also for helping more people stay healthy through preventative measures. And I believe we’re now at a point where the new technologies at our disposal will enable us to accelerate our ability to intervene in precise ways and achieve greater success. This includes not only the interventions available but also the information we can collect and analyze to ensure that our interventions are targeted, safe, and effective.
Aside from your two-year stint as FDA Commissioner, you’ve been at NEA since 2007. What’s kept you here?
At NEA, I find myself amid some of the most thoughtful and insightful minds in healthcare. The collective intellect of our team, coupled with the ingenuity of the entrepreneurs we collaborate with, provides a wellspring of intellectual inspiration and profound motivation. We’ve maintained a collaborative culture, and everyone here is focused on the impact they can have on patients.
You keep a busy schedule, but what does free time look like for you?
Spending time with my family—my three daughters keep me grounded—and also writing, mostly about my ideas and experiences.
“
“The application of technology to healthcare holds immense potential for improving people's lives. I’m grateful to be in a position to help identify and advance these innovations through the capital and guidance we can provide.”
