Big Week For the Bushes

While President Bush hosts Russian President Vladimir Putin at the family’s tiny Kennebunkport bungalow , Jonathan Bush, a first cousin of the president, is having a fairly big week himself. Athenahealth Inc., the company he co-founded and leads, filed to go public. One of the few success stories to emerge from the e-health mania of the late 1990s, the Waltham, Mass.-based company—which manages billing and collections for physician offices—hopes to sell up to $86 million in stock. Athenahealth is a service, rather than a software company, although its service is Internet-enabled. Why bring this up in the IN VIVO blog? First, it gives us a chance to run dueling Bush photos. Second, Jonathan Bush matches his cousin in swagger and has suggested in the past that VCs don’t have the fortitude to invest in health care services/IT companies like his. We recently wondered aloud whether David Brailer's new $700m effort will alter that perception. Third, this will be an important IPO. A poor showing could be a setback for the health care IT/services industry.

Now back to your regularly scheduled pharma discussion.

p.s. In case you were wondering what global warming could mean to future Bushes. We suspect the Crawford Ranch is safe.