Alphabet — the parent company of Google — is hiring a number of top people from the healthcare and life science fields, CNBC reports.
It notes that while Google founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page have said in the past that Google will not become a healthcare company, a number of Alphabet's 'Other Bets' are moving into that sphere. For instance, CNBC reports that that Alphabet's venture subsidiaries GV and CapitalG are investing in healthcare. Additionally, it says that Alphabet's Sidewalk Labs, which is focusing on solving urban problems, is also moving into healthcare. That subsidiary's Care Labs effort is itself looking into how care could be delivered and is seeking a chief health officer and a head of community health.
At the same time, Alphabet's Verily and Calico have also been hiring from the healthcare and life science arenas, CNBC adds. It notes that former Genentech CEO of Arthur Levinson is now the CEO of Calico and Tom Insel, who was the director of the National Institute of Mental Health, is at Verily, as is cardiologist Jessica Mega, formerly of Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women's Hospital.
Windham Venture Partners' Cynthia Yee tells CNBC that startups in her company's portfolio has lost talent in these areas to Alphabet. And biotech executive Sabah Oney from Alector adds that this is good for scientists. "I've seen so many smart scientists get offers to consult or join Google for real money," he says. "Scientists are so underpaid and undervalued, so the competition can only be a good thing."