California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) Joins Top U.S. Expert on Healthcare Efficiency to Launch $700 Million Strategic Investment Plan
Calpers will put in $500 million for either co-investments or direct investments into Healthcare related initiatives. In addition, $200 million will be used for healthcare-focused equity funds and strategic ventures. According to CalPERS:

Other new investments might go to:

• Hospitals that excel in certain specialties or other providers that can reduce costs and improve performance;
• Retail or work site clinics that are staffed with nurses and other practitioners to enhance access to care, especially basic preventive health services;
• Technology to enable electronic medical record-keeping, improve quality and patient safety, and to integrate the systems of various clinics and departments;
• Home health services that would allow patients to avoid more acute settings, reduce costs and enhance the quality of life; and
• Technology and services that improve the management of acute and chronic diseases, including home- and hospital-based heart rate monitoring devices from remote locations.

OpGen raises$ 23.6 million in funding
The round was led by CHL Medical Partners, Highland Capital Partners and Versant Ventures. OpGen, a Madison-based DNA analysis company focused upon the optical mapping of genome. It was started by David Swartz, a chemistry and genetics professor. According to OpGen:

The technology developed by Schwartz and used by OpGen coaxes coiled strands of DNA to straighten on a tiny glass chip. The genetic material is cleaved at key points with the use of enzymes. Eventually, laser light pumped through a fiber-optic cable and viewed through a microscope exposes the gaps between the fragments of DNA. Software measures the fragments and then converts the findings into computerized images showing an organism’s genetic layout.