Our healthcare system is failing too many patients, so we’re doubling down on bold new ideas to root out inequities for good.
As the pioneers of the biotech industry, it’s our responsibility to catalyze change and help build a healthcare system where all patients can benefit equally from groundbreaking medical advances. That’s why we launched the Genentech Health Equity Innovation Fund in 2019 to invest in game-changing ideas with the potential to transform healthcare.
Through the Innovation Fund, we are working to eliminate the unjust inequities that force patients of color to navigate a broken system. But our impact also extends much further. Racial and ethnic health disparities currently cost our society almost $500 billion annually, and by addressing them, we can improve the lives of everyone.1
Though our industry has known for decades that racism negatively impacts health outcomes for people of color, there has been little progress to fix it2 – and patients deserve better. Stark inequities persist, including:
We prioritize funding for teams with bold new ideas and firsthand experience with the equity challenges their work addresses. This has included efforts to increase clinical study enrollment, improve health equity and anti-racism education for future healthcare providers, diversify the nursing workforce and more.
To continue funding this important work, the 2024 Innovation Fund is awarding an additional $10M+ in grant funding to 10+ grantee partners.
~$50M
allocated through four rounds of funding since 2019*
100+
grantees supported through the Innovation Fund*
77%
of grantees see greater buy-in for health equity work as a result of their funding
*Includes anticipated investments in the 2024 grantee cohort
Read about key outcomes from past Innovation Fund investments and the impact of some of our grantees.
Review the 2024 Innovation Fund RFP to learn more about the outcomes we’re working to advance.
Get answers to common questions about the Innovation Fund.
Through the Innovation Fund, Genentech is pursuing bold and creative approaches that support our companywide D&I commitment to transforming society. By funding solutions to address the structural forces driving inequity, we can benefit more patients and increase our society-level impact. That’s why we’ve invested more than $200 million in equity-focused giving like the Innovation Fund since 2017.
Health Inequities are the Symptoms, Racism is the Disease
Addressing systemic health inequities requires facing their root cause: racism.
Grants To Spark Systemic Change With Communities of Color
Learn how we are supporting solutions to address health and education inequities driven by systemic racism.
1NIH-funded study highlights the financial toll of health disparities in the United States. (2023). National Institutes of Health (NIH).
2Yale School of Medicine. Study finds persistent racial and ethnic health disparities over decades. Retrieved September 28, 2023.
3Dembeck, L. (2022, March 28). Racial disparities common in diabetic eye disease screening, treatments. Ophthalmology Advisor.
4 Association of American Medical Colleges. 2021 Physician Specialty Data Report.
5Green, A. (2022, March). Despite the FDA’s five-year plan, Black patients remain inadequately represented in clinical trials for drugs. Health Affairs.
