Our livers rested, our business cards sheathed – one more year of the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference has come and gone. Given that the week was relatively quiet in terms of breaking news, the focus rested more solidly on trend analysis, moodiness – and what was not said. It also showed undercurrents of change.
Take that Bloomberg piece on cocktail models at a post-JPM reception embodying the role of women in biotech: This trend piece seemed to generate more buzz than, say, the $32 billion Shire-Baxalta merge. And it enraged such ire among men and women alike that it may, perhaps, shame party-throwers and partygoers into less gender segregation in ensuing J.P. Morgans. I, for one, am optimistic for that change.
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Another notable trend? A bit of gossip? The conspicuous absence of biopharma’s two erstwhile characters: Martin Shkreli and Elizabeth Holmes. The former, otherwise known as Voldemort, or “He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named,” was conspicuously absent from conversation – though his presence was often felt. There were a number of pricing discussions taking place during the course of the week, in casual conversation as well as on stage – and yet nary a mention 0f Shkreli’s antics with Daraprim. Holmes was, however: Many of the private companies I spoke with used Theranos as an example of why they were loathe to over-promise and under-deliver. Both characters left their mark on J.P. Morgan, palpable if invisible.
Speaking of private companies, however: They seemed wonderfully smug for being insulated from the burst of the public biotech bubble. While undercurrents of pessimism infected many of the dealings of public biotech companies this year, the attitude toward private companies was much more bullish. Another thing that’ll keep the sector strong? While there may be an absence of IPOs, M&A will continue on strong.
“I think the pessimistic view represents more of what’s going on in the public market,” Kenneth Clark, a partner at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, said on MedCity News‘ MedHeads. “I spend a lot of my time in the private market. Where I’m coming from is I see a lot of real value being created. What I’m seeing across the board are companies that are being created, maybe in the early stage, that are generating very strong data.”
An excellent piece from Becker’s Hospital Review outlined the conference in 10 trends. Some of the more notable ones include deeper analysis, again, on pricing, an importance of scaling through M&A (which will be significant in the $2 billion of “synergies” we’re seeing in that Pfizer-Allergan merge) and a shift towards consumerism, seen particularly with the growth of retail health.
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An overview of the top stories – as well as MedCity News’ coverage of the conference – can be found here.
However, the overarching thought for the conference? A touch bland in terms of big deals, but there were undercurrents of change seen throughout. It’ll set the tone for a nose-to-the-grindstone year in biopharma, and perhaps J.P. Morgan HealthCon 2017 will show signs of a very different industry – with perhaps a strong position on pricing, a righting of course in terms of valuation, and maybe a little less gender segregation.
[Image courtesy of Wikipedia]