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Recent momentum in biotech deals, growing interest in weight-loss drugs and the popularity of artificial intelligence have added importance to this year's JP Morgan Healthcare Conference, which begins Monday in San Francisco, California.
He four-day event, one of the main investment conferences on the healthcare calendar, it is expected to attract more than 80,000 attendees, including representatives from major drug makers, startups and large financial firms.
“Things are getting better for the first time in a long time,” healthcare investor and Loncar Investments CEO Brad Loncar told Bloomberg.
According to data from the London Stock Exchange Group, pharmaceutical and biotech deals offset a drop in global M&A activity in 2023, rising 38% and 45% in value from the previous year, respectively, despite a slight drop in quantity.
“We've had an uptick in M&A recently, we're seeing stocks rebound with the market recovery and interest rates falling,” said Mike Gaito, global head of healthcare investment banking at JPMorgan. Reuters. Gaito will interview JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon on the event's opening day.
A new class of weight loss drugs called GLP-1 receptor agonists, marketed by Novo Nordisk (NVO) and Eli Lilly (New York Stock Exchange:LLY), has taken the pharmaceutical industry by storm, and major drug makers have joined the fight by developing internally and negotiating deals.
Smaller biotech companies such as Viking Therapeutics (VKTX) and Rhythm Pharmaceuticals (RYTM), with weight loss drugs in their portfolio, far outperformed the broader market in 2023, while Eli Lilly (LLY) and Novo (OTCPK :NONOF) became the most valuable drug manufacturers in the world. .
A new class of cancer therapy called antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) also made headlines recently.
In December, Pfizer (PFE) closed its $42 billion acquisition of drugmaker ADC Seagen (SGEN), and in October, Merck (New York Stock Exchange: MRK) signed a $22 billion deal to obtain global rights to three ADCs from Japanese drugmaker Daiichi Sankyo (OTCPK:DSNKY) (OTCPK:DSKYF). AbbVie (New York Stock Exchange: ABBV) The approximately $10 billion acquisition of ADC maker ImmunoGen (IMGN) is expected to close in mid-2024.
Commenting on healthcare technology and delivery, JP Morgan analysts led by Anne Samuel said ai will also be a key theme at this year's event.
Even ai-driven biotechs including Schrodinger (SDGR), Recursion Pharma (RXRX), and Absci (ABSI) have also seen record profits in 2023 amid investments from companies like Nvidia (NVDA).
According to Morgan Stanley, budget allocation to ai and machine learning is expected to reach ~11% in the healthcare sector this year, up from ~6% in 2022.
Major drugmakers scheduled to present at the JPM event include Amgen (AMGN), BioMarin Pharmaceutical (BMRN), Eli Lilly (LLY), Sarepta Therapeutics (SRPT), AbbVie (ABBV), Teva (TEVA), Bristol Myers (New York Stock Exchange:BMY), Viatris (VTRS), Zoetis (ZTS), Organon (OGN), Moderna (MRNA), Elanco (ELAN), Vertex Pharma (VRTX), Regeneron (REGN), Baxter International (BAX) and Johnson & Johnson (JNJ)
Notable healthcare equipment manufacturers that will be present include Dexcom (DXCM), Zimmer Biomet (ZBH), GE HealthCare (GEHC), and Baxter International (BAX).
Other healthcare companies scheduled for presentations include Agilent (A), Thermo Fisher Scientific (TMO), Exelixis (EXEL), LabCorp (LH), Walgreens (WBA), Centene (CNC), CVS Health (CVS), Cigna (CI ) and Molina (MOLN)
