Creating Value in the Healthcare Sector

“The most thrilling part of working in the healthcare industry is watching and supporting a product come to market, which meaningfully improves patient conditions,” a sentiment from Bill Chase, '99, that has rung true throughout his professional career.

Chase is the former chief financial officer of Abbvie after the successful spinout of Abbott Laboratories. Abbvie was truly a perfect fit, as it focused on bringing patients better outcomes through research-backed pharmaceuticals, while also touching on Chase’s passion for investing. His love of investment theory helped him to excel in this position. Chase was integral in Abbvie’s acquisition and investment decisions, as well as its financial success. Before Abbvie, Chase served in various finance, treasury, and M&A roles at Abbott.

Chase’s interest in healthcare first sparked at his first role out of undergrad at an international diversified healthcare company. “I found the healthcare space to be fascinating in a number of ways,” Chase explains, “First and foremost was the innovative nature of the space and the ability to leverage scientific breakthroughs to address healthcare needs. Also, the complexity of the regulatory environment and how it impacts the marketing process. It’s not an easy sector, but the opportunities to create value are profound when good science is married with wise management.” Chase found his interest in healthcare growing, and with a passion for the investment process, Booth seemed like a great fit.

“I found that a number of Booth’s approaches improved the way I approached problems,” Chase explains, “More importantly, however, was the infusion of economic principles in all business analysis — particularly its demand for understanding incentives of all parties when trying to determine how a business issue would play out.”

Chase currently sits on the board for Intellia Therapeutics, Inc., Grail and Parexel, all occupying the healthcare space.