FREOPP Leadership: Vivek Ramaswamy
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Vivek Ramaswamy transformed the biotech industry. Can he transform America too?
In the classic drug development model, giant companies like Pfizer or Merck fund R&D projects undertaken by anonymous scientists in their sprawling labs. Those that succeed get a small bonus, a pat on the back, and maybe a plaque on the wall. On the other hand, Vivek observed in the Harvard Business Review, “while virtually all pharma companies say they encourage risk, in reality the failure of individual drug-development programs frequently results in career damage or even job loss for the research teams involved.”
The company Vivek founded, Roivant Sciences, inverts that model, spawning off startup after startup to tackle specific biomedical problems, like respiratory diseases or autoimmune disorders, rewarding researchers both for generating successes and for calling attention to problems. Roivant focuses on hiring not only pharmaceutical industry veterans, but also total outsiders to help shake up the staid culture of pharma R&D.
In 2015, at the ripe old age of 29, Vivek launched the biggest biotech IPO in history. In 2016, he launched the biggest biotech IPO of the year — again. And in 2017, he raised $1.1 billion for Roivant, the largest-ever private financing for a healthcare startup.
Today, the Roivant family of companies is worth more than $7 billion, with promising drugs in psoriasis, community-acquired pneumonia, cancer, and kidney disease. “A big key to our success has been to develop drugs in areas where medical need is high, but where R&D investment from other companies is low,” Vivek says. “And we also made the drug development process more efficient.”
Vivek grew up in Evendale, Ohio, the son of Indian immigrants, where he was valedictorian at St. Xavier High School and a nationally ranked junior tennis player. Vivek’s dad was an engineer for General Electric, and his mom a psychiatrist who worked in nursing homes. “I loved growing up in Ohio,” Vivek says, “because it was a microcosm of our country. I grew up in a stable, middle-class family, but I attended underfunded public schools through 8th grade. I was exposed to the struggles of the inner city, as well as those of people who came from the rural communities of southwest Ohio.”
In 2003, Vivek went off to Harvard, where he majored in Biology, chaired the Harvard Political Union, and graduated summa cum laude. “In college,” Vivek recalls, “I learned that you don’t really understand what you think unless you can articulate the best arguments of those who disagree with you. My peers pushed me to reconsider my most closely held views. I valued that diversity of thought, and hope that universities keep that spirit alive for the next generation. The health of our democracy depends on it.”
After college, Vivek joined a hedge fund called QVT, where he focused on biotech investing. “When I first told my parents about it,” he says, “they thought I was going into the landscaping business.” It was at QVT where Vivek made his mark as an early investor in cures for hepatitis C, while attending Yale Law School on the side. “Vivek was one of the few people who did all the reading,” one of his law professors remarked.
Vivek and his wife, Apoorva, moved back to Ohio in 2019. In early 2020, they gave birth to their first child. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Apoorva — an ear, neck, and throat surgeon — ended her maternity leave early to see patients, and ended up contracting the coronavirus. She had to be separated from Vivek and their newborn until the infection cleared. “It crushed our family for our infant son to see his mother on video chats, but for her not to be able to hold him in her arms. It was a hardship for him and his mom, but thousands of healthcare workers endured similar hardships — or worse.”
In 2021, Vivek stepped down as CEO of Roivant to become its Executive Chairman. He has served on FREOPP’s Board of Directors since 2020, though he is currently on hiatus as he runs for President.
His New York Times best-selling book, “Woke Inc.,” centers around what he calls a “nationalism of inclusion,” one that can restore the integrity of free enterprise and American democracy by expanding opportunity for all. “I’m excited to be a part of FREOPP because equality of opportunity is the heart of the American dream. My parents taught me that with hard work and an education, I could achieve anything I ever wanted. We owe it to ourselves to make that dream a reality for every child in America.”
Follow Vivek on Twitter: @VivekGRamaswamy
