New Enterprise Associates, Inc. (NEA), Chevy Chase, Md., a global venture capital firm, has appointed Scott Gottlieb, MD, as a special partner on the firm’s healthcare investment team. Gottlieb was a venture partner at NEA from 2007 to 2017 before being appointed the 23rd Commissioner of the U.S. FDA, where he served from 2017 to 2019.

Under Gottlieb’s leadership, the FDA advanced new policies for the safe and effective oversight of gene therapies, cell-based regenerative medicines, targeted drugs, and digital health devices; implemented new reforms to standardize drug and medical device reviews; and promoted policies to reduce death and disease from tobacco, improve food innovation and safety, advocate for better nutrition, and aggressively confront addiction crises.

In addition to his role as an investor, Gottlieb is a physician, policy expert, and advocate for healthcare entrepreneurship, innovation, and access. He is focused on advancing public health to improve medical outcomes, reshaping healthcare delivery, and expanding consumer choice and safety. He helped oversee a modernization of the FDA’s new drug and medical device review programs and historic reorganization of the agency’s field operations; and led the passage and implementation of significant new legislation, including new bills to address the opioid crisis and expand the agency’s user fee programs.

“Throughout his prior 10-year tenure at NEA, Scott’s broad expertise was a tremendous asset for our healthcare practice and portfolio companies,” comments David Mott, general partner and head of healthcare Investing at NEA. “We are proud of his contributions to advancing innovation and increasing the quality of patient care as head of the FDA, and we’re thrilled to have him rejoin NEA, this time as a full-time investing partner. Scott will be based in our Chevy Chase, Md. office and will be an active investor across the full spectrum of our healthcare activities, with a particular emphasis on biopharma and healthcare services.”

Gottlieb is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine and currently a Resident Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) in Washington, D.C. In addition to his recent role as FDA commissioner, Gottlieb previously served as the FDA’s deputy commissioner for medical and scientific Affairs and before that, as a senior adviser to the administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.