Hanqing Li, investment director at MSD Global Health Innovation Fund, is one of our top 50 Rising Stars in corporate venturing for 2025.
Corporate venture capital was not Plan A for MSD Global Health Innovation Fund investment director Hanqing Li – that was to become a professor. But as many former members of academia would tell you, she says, it did not work out that way.
“I still wanted to stay adjacent to science and keep abreast of the latest innovations in science and tech, and at the same time hopefully make a real-world impact, as opposed to doing ivory-tower research,” says Li.
“I thought corporate venture would be the perfect vehicle for that. In venture you get exposed to the latest innovations in science and technology; working at a corporate VC in a large format like MSD means you have the potential to generate some impact with the startups.”
“Working at a corporate VC in a large format like MSD means you have the potential to generate some impact with the startups”
Li came to the fund in 2021 and has carved out a niche in AI-equipped drug discovery, where she helped to lead rounds for BigHat Biosciences and Variational AI. But she acknowledges the sector still has a long way to go.
“I am very optimistic,” she says. “It is going to be difficult, but a lot of things that are worth doing will be. I do not think those challenges are insurmountable, but I do believe it has the potential to have a great impact and to decrease both the time it takes to get a drug to market and the attrition rates that we see in the clinic.”
Overall, Li enjoys the diversity of her colleagues at the Global Health Innovation Fund, where she can bring experience in research and intellectual property law and work alongside people who can expose her to new areas of expertise.
“We are a very eclectic group, everyone has different backgrounds and that has been amazing for me, because it means I get to learn across the pharma and healthcare value chain, all the way from supply chains, manufacturing and R&D to go-to-market strategies. That part has been great.”
See the full list of Rising Stars 2025 here.
