National Venture Capital Association to pitch medical innovation

The nation’s leading venture capital trade association is forming a subgroup to advocate for policies and regulations that it says would bolster medical innovation in the United States.

The new group, the Medical Innovation and Competitiveness (MedIC) Coalition, is open to members of the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA) and their portfolio companies, according to a statement from the association.

The new group lists three major goals:

• Bring the importance of medical innovation to the forefront as the country implements healthcare reform

• Establish new and preserve existing incentives for investors and entrepreneurs to develop and commercialize medical innovations in the United States

• Achieve broad-based reform of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration

“MedIC will address the rising concern that the U.S. is at risk of losing [its] leadership position in innovation and job creation due to increasing uncertainty in the regulatory and reimbursement processes, healthcare reform implementation and the capital markets,” said Dr. Beth Seidenberg, chair of the new coalition and a general partner of Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers.

The move comes at a transitional time for the venture capital industry.

Ten-year venture capital returns have fallen in recent years as the once-lucrative IPO market slowed and technology startups no longer needed as much capital as they once did to get rolling. That’s led to much debate in recent years about the venture model being “broken,” as many notable VC firms ratchet down the size of their funds and angel investors become increasingly important sources of funding for young firms. Many insiders expect the ranks of venture capitalists to thin substantially in the coming years.

If the new advocacy group succeeds, perhaps the first jobs the venture capitalists save will be their own.