Investing for Good
I often think of Julie. Then I think about others from my childhood, how simple procedures and therapies that are commonplace and unremarkable for us would have saved so many lives then. Neighbors and family members suffered from frightening diseases and debilitating health concerns, which we treat now by snagging a bottle of pills from the Walgreens drive-thru.
This tragedy with my childhood friend, multiplied by other encounters with friends and family who have suffered, sticks with me. For years, I’ve been fascinated by (and immensely grateful for) the ways improved technology, new therapies, and groundbreaking research can radically improve people’s lives. All kinds of medical crises are now remedied by routine procedures and ordinary medications. And even with incurable diseases, which still ravage the body, we are now able to manage many of them and provide a real quality of life. Science is astounding.
We do live in a remarkable age of medical research, and over the years, I’ve discovered profound joy from investing in biotechnology and other healthcare companies through Eventide, the investment company where I serve as CEO. A few partners and I founded Eventide because we were unfulfilled by a career path focused solely on security and upward mobility. We wanted to figure out how we could use our experience and knowledge to make the world better. So, for 18 years, we’ve invested in companies we believe are well-managed, ethical, and will make healthy profits—but (and this part is crucial) also in companies that are creating products and services that do good for the world. And I can’t imagine a company doing anything better for the world than saving lives. The healthcare industry faces many well-known struggles that need to be addressed, but we can’t let this flaw drown out the fact that so many good companies are saving and improving lives every day.
Hope-filled Stories
I want to tell you the stories of just a few of these admirable companies doing good work. I hope you’ll be as inspired as I am.
In the U.S. alone, 125,000 people die every year from lung cancer, the deadliest of all the cancers1. Unfortunately, symptoms often show up only after it’s too late for a cure. To make matters worse, chemotherapy can be so brutal that many patients opt out and choose only palliative care instead2. Thankfully, one company is currently working on a new gene therapy that aims to turn off a cancerous cell’s mutations (the drug targets lung cancer but shows promise for colorectal and pancreatic cancers too). Even with later-stage patients, these emerging treatments appear to provide added years without the horrific pain connected to current therapies.
Another company is confronting Multiple Sclerosis (MS), a devastating autoimmune disease that affects roughly 3 million people. MS attacks the protective sheath of the central nervous system and inflicts a whole range of disabilities (walking, talking, vision, and all kinds of motor skills3). The most effective treatments are infusions or injections, which are usually painful and arduous, often requiring multiple trips to the hospital every year. To compound the struggle, these therapies often eventually weaken the immune system4. However, the company we’ve invested in has developed an oral pill which interrupts the signals causing MS’s deadly inflammation—and because the therapy is precisely targeted, it works without many of the negative side effects of typical immune-suppression drugs. And remarkably, patients can take the pill in the comfort of their own home.
Then there’s a company working on breast cancer, a disease that touches most of us (our family or our circle of friends) because approximately 1 in 8 women will receive this dreaded diagnosis5. A patient’s trauma is often made worse by how slow and expensive it can be to get answers about a woman’s specific tumors and the details about which treatments are most likely to be successful. It can be maddening to be told you may need to wait as long as 6 weeks to get clarity from the labs. However, a new diagnostic company has developed a novel digital test that delivers results in a fraction of the time (1-2 days) while slashing the cost (a third of the price of traditional tests)6. Women, in their most anxious moments and when time really matters, will now have the chance to receive vital information that could save their lives. And rather than an interminable, apprehensive wait, they will be able to quickly receive answers and peace of mind.
Our Portfolios Make a Difference
These stories are only a thin sample. There are thousands of companies actively researching treatments for orphan diseases, debilitating conditions, and ailments we’ve always assumed were terminal. And there are hundreds of thousands of researchers worldwide actively tackling some of our most intractable health challenges. Diagnoses that once delivered death sentences will, in the coming years, arrive with options for cures. The future is bright.
However, investments are crucial to securing this good future, as investors underwrite a significant portion of the research. Private industry funds roughly 70% of healthcare’s research and development, with the remainder split among government, higher education, and other sources7. Whenever we invest in good companies working on important medical advancements, our money is doing more than just earning a profit. We are also helping to heal someone’s parent, friend, or child. No individual can tackle these mammoth needs alone, but collectively we can achieve wonders.
I once had a friend die from complications due to schizophrenia. Years later, a company we were invested in received approval for a remarkable, pioneering antipsychotic drug. The day the drug was made available to patients, I thought about my friend and how much I wished this drug had arrived in time to help her. And then I thought about how many others would now be able to stay alive or enjoy a more meaningful life because of this revolutionary breakthrough. I felt such gratitude because I was able in some small way to participate in this healing effort.
And here’s the astonishing fact: we can all participate. By simply choosing where to invest some of our money, we can all join in and help heal someone’s suffering.
Article by Robin John, who serves as a Founding Member and Chief Executive Officer of Eventide.
He is responsible for the overall leadership of the organization, and under his leadership, the firm has grown into a leader within values-based investing. His debut book, The Good Investor, was released in 2025.
Prior to Eventide, Mr. John served at the Bank of New York Mellon. He has also served as a business consultant for Grant Thornton. He has a degree in Economics from Tufts University.
Footnotes