Bill Taranto - President, Merck Global Health Innovation Fund - Episode #2

Bill Taranto is President of both the Merck Global Health Innovation Fund ( MGHIF - https://www.merckghifund.com/ ), and Merck Global Health Private Equity (GHIPE). He is the founder of MGHIF and is responsible for leading the global health capability for Merck.

The Merck Global Health Innovation Fund was established in late 2010 as a strategic response to the challenges surrounding Merck’s core business of discovering, developing and marketing innovative drugs and vaccines.

Mr. Taranto has more than three decades of experience in the healthcare industry. MGHIF is a $500 Million evergreen fund focused on identifying opportunities that are adjacent to Merck’s core business of pharmaceuticals and vaccines. Under his leadership, MGHIF has invested more than $1 Billion in 70 companies, with more than $7 Billion in exits.

The unit’s recent deals include participation in the pre-seed round for blockchain-based genomics company IndyGeneUS AI and roles as lead investor on both the $3m venture round for TransVoyant, a developer of digital supply chain services, and the €20m series A round for cancer therapeutics firm Turbine. Other notable investments include PathAI, M2GEN,Navigating Cancer, Syapse, Strata, Precise DX, Trinetx, and Cleardata. Recent unicorn exits include Livongo Health, Preventice Solutions, Ciox and Absci.

Prior to joining Merck, Mr. Taranto spent 18 years at Johnson & Johnson (J&J) in various roles. As VP of healthcare strategy and venture at J&J, he was responsible for evaluating and creating new healthcare business models through venture capital and acquisitions. Prior to joining J&J, Mr. Taranto spent eight years in investment banking.