BelHealth Brings Seasoned Operating Partner on Board

Healthcare-focused firm BelHealth Investment Partners has beefed up its roster of operating partners with Burt Zweigenhaft, who has 30 years of experience in specialty biotech pharma and oncology cancer care spaces.

At the end of August, healthcare-focused private equity firm BelHealth Investment Partners hired Burt Zweigenhaft as an operating partner, and he immediately joined the boards of Linden Care and Apothecary by Design.

Zweigenhaft has 30 years of experience in the specialty biotech pharmaceutical and oncology cancer care ecosystem and through various business ventures, and had known the managing directors at BelHealth for more than 20 years prior to joining the firm. BelHealth—an operationally focused lower-middle-market healthcare firm based in New York and Newport, Calif.—typically looks to make majority stake investments in healthcare distribution, products, and services platforms, and it invests between $20M and $50M per company. The firm closed its second fund in May 2015, which hit its hard cap of $350M and already has two portfolio companies with a total of eight likely when it’s fully invested.

“As a seasoned healthcare professional, moving into private equity was the next step for me,” says Zweigenhaft. “I have a strong Rolodex, and a lot of private equity firms have approached me to work for them, but I wanted to be sure I was going somewhere there was really a match. This is a match.” He adds that the firm is “really hands-on from start to finish, actively supporting companies and their strategies. I am used to being in the trenches, and I can help these companies meet their goals.”

Previously, Zweigenhaft was the founder, CEO, and vice chairman of Onco360, a national oncology pharmacy care management provider. He has also served as senior vice president of managed care sales and marketing, government programs, trade relations, and business development strategies for Priority Healthcare, a publicly traded company in the specialty pharmacy sector that had $2.3B in drug revenues before being acquired by Express Scripts in 2005.

Upon joining BelHealth, Zweigenhaft immediately started working with Linden Care, a Woodbury, N.Y.–based specialty pharmacy services company in the highly regulated pain industry. BelHealth has owned the company since July 2013.

“Linden Care is very well-known in the industry, and I am helping them deepen their relationships in the marketplace,” says Zweigenhaft, who is participating in conferences and trade shows with the company. “I plan to remain very active and help them keep things fresh.”

BelHealth bought Apothecary by Design—a Portland, Maine–based specialty pharma company focused on women’s health, hepatitis C, and autoimmune disorders—in August 2015. Zweigenhaft is also actively working with Apothecary on their strategy.

In addition to working with current portfolio companies, Zweigenhaft will also help the BelHealth team source new deals. “It’s a big part of what I do,” he says. “I can take Company A join it with Company B and make not C but C squared. I have the ability to incubate opportunities and help the team close on transactions. I am excited about this opportunity.”