Coronary artery disease is the leading cause of death worldwide. Heart attacks happen when arteries that supply blood to the heart become blocked, and medical providers and researchers have worked for decades to find better treatments and prevention. David Prim, an alumnus of the University of South Carolina, has dedicated his career to fighting cardiovascular diseases – first as a researcher and now as a venture capitalist.
Prim works for Broadview Ventures in Boston, helping the organization identify and invest in promising new technologies for the diagnosis and treatment of cardiovascular disease and stroke. Funded by the Leducq Charitable Trust, the firm supports the trust’s mission to improve human health by combatting these conditions worldwide.
“In my role as principal, I cover a lot of ground. Every day is different, and I think having a broad set of experiences is helpful for that,” Prim says. “I resonate especially with the entrepreneurs who are coming from an academic background and embarking on the difficult path of getting their research from the lab to the market.”
At one time, he might have become a researcher-turned-entrepreneur himself. Prim grew up in a family of Gamecocks, including his father who graduated from USC and his mother who has worked at USC for more than 35 years. He earned both an undergraduate and doctoral degree from the Molinaroli College of Engineering and Computing, studying biomedical engineering. But while a student in the South Carolina Honors College, Prim took an elective in the Darla Moore School of Business.
“I took a seminar taught by Frank Braddock, who is an investment professional himself, and I learned a lot about an area of the world that I hadn’t spent much time thinking about,” he says.
That class sparked an interest in business that stayed with him throughout his time at USC.
Lightbulb moment
Upon completing his bachelor’s in 2013, Prim enrolled in USC’s biomedical engineering doctoral program. His advisor John Eberth, who held a dual appointment with engineering and USC’s School of Medicine Columbia, was working on cardiovascular research to address the failure rate of vein grafts for repairing damaged coronary arteries.
“When I learned about Dr. Eberth’s research, a lightbulb went off,” Prim says. “My own grandfather had coronary artery bypass surgery, where surgeons use vessels from other parts of the body to repair the blocked arteries. It worked well for him, but it doesn’t work well for everyone. I thought it would be significant to research something so close to my family.”
When he started, Prim was on the traditional path of a Ph.D. student, but he says this path didn’t seem like the right fit for him.
“By the time I was a few years into my graduate program, I started to think about not necessarily wanting to work in academia or the lab. I knew I still wanted to be involved in science and medicine and helping to improve care for patients. So, I began to research what other opportunities were out there,” he says.
I love building relationships and being at the interface of science and business. I’m still touching the science and research in a non-traditional way, and I get to be a part of translating and telling the story to the outside world.
Prim worked with classmates to organize seminars with guest speakers who shared their experience blending business with academic and scholarly work. He also took a graduate class in the Moore School, taught by Laura Cardinal, the endowed chair and director of the USC’s SmartState Center for Innovation + Commercialization. The course covered the strategic management of technology and innovation in a business setting.
“That was another cool experience – just to make my brain work in a different way and to interact with people from other fields. It helped me think more about other possibilities,” he says.
Equipped with this foundational knowledge, Prim moved to Boston after graduating to work as a life science strategy consultant for biopharmaceutical and medical device companies. He spent a few years in the field, developing his business skills and a deeper understanding of these industries.
In 2021, Prim started with Broadview Ventures. He says his role has been a natural fit, since the firm invests exclusively in cardiovascular disease and stroke. The role has also given him the chance to focus on supporting entrepreneurs.
“I had always been interested in the startup ecosystem, specifically. People can get siloed in big companies, but with startups, everyone’s doing a bit of everything, and startups are on the cutting edge of innovation,” he says.
“I’ve really enjoyed the chance to interact with founders and to have a finger on the pulse of what’s next in the treatment of cardiovascular diseases. Venture capital is a great conduit to do that, while hopefully making a positive contribution to these companies.”
Beyond return on investment
Over the course of the year, Prim helps Broadview decide on three or four different new companies to fund as an investor. First, he considers hundreds of new companies a year, meeting with dozens of innovators and research teams at conferences, pitch competitions and virtually. Prim and his colleagues whittle their list down to about 10 to research extensively over the course of the year. Using his background in biomedical engineering, Prim helps assess whether a company’s innovative technology – a new medical device or diagnostic tool – will be successful from both a business and a scientific perspective.
While traditional venture capital companies focus on making a profit on their investments, Prim says Broadview Ventures takes a different approach. While the organization is happy when it makes financial return on its investments back to the Leducq Trust, profitability is not the most important measure of success.
“Internally, we talk about our ‘return on mission,’ which is ultimately the extent to which technologies we fund improve human health in the areas of cardiovascular disease and stroke. Along the way, we track various metrics that suggest we are moving towards mission success," he says.
"Metrics such as: How many new devices and medications have been approved? How many patients have been treated by technologies Broadview has funded? We are truly proud to see our companies make progress in support of the Leducq mission."
Prim says he feels fortunate to do this work, which allows him to put his science and engineering skills to use in a job that lets him help people – from the researcher and entrepreneur bringing a new idea to fruition to the patients who live longer because of it.
“I love building relationships and being at the interface of science and business. I’m still touching the science and research in a non-traditional way, and I get to be a part of translating and telling the story to the outside world,” he says.
“I think the totality of my experiences has prepared me well. The combination of my academic training at USC and my career thus far has given me a lot of the pieces that set me up for success in my job now.”