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Healthcare executives, dealmakers and investors will gather in San Francisco this week at a turbulent time for the industry following the murder of a senior healthcare executive and Donald Trump's appointment of a vaccine skeptic to the top U.S. health official. is.
“We have more uncertainty this year than ever before,” said John Maraganoa, former chief executive of the $30 billion biotech company Alnylam Pharmaceuticals and now an advisor to a boutique bank. “The main reason for this is that some policies are unclear.” Jefferies and venture capital firm Arch Venture Partners.
About 8,000 people are expected to attend the JPMorgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco's Union Square. In total, more than 60,000 people will visit the city for the event, which typically attracts biotech deals.
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Over the past year, the SPDR S&P Pharmaceuticals ETF, which aggregates large-cap drug stocks, has been flat, while the broader S&P 500 index has risen nearly 22%.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has spread conspiracy theories about coronavirus vaccines and criticized the blockbuster weight loss drug, has been named to run the Department of Health, and his allies are expected to run the powerful government agency. Further uncertainty arose with the appointment of several individuals.
Security presence at conferences has been significantly increased in the wake of the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in midtown Manhattan in November, which prosecutors say is the Ivy. It is alleged that the attack was a “terrorist act” against the medical industry by Luigi, a 26-year-old League graduate. Mangione.
“Everyone is on high alert this year, but I wouldn't do anything other than pay more attention to what we can and cannot do from our security teams,” said Brent Saunders, CEO of eye care company Bausch+. said. ROM.
Mr Sanders said policy uncertainty was “like a cold bucket of water poured into the sector”. But, he added, “I've been through several regime changes as CEO, so I tend not to worry about that too much.”
Several managed care companies will not be attending this year, but officials close to them stressed their absences are unrelated to safety concerns. UnitedHealth never attended, CVS withdrew after its chief executive resigned in October, and Cigna also won't attend, according to people familiar with the matter.
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Leaves for local police officers have been canceled to ensure the San Francisco Police Department has sufficient resources for the event, according to a person familiar with the plans.
Costa Kleiman, a health care investor at investment management firm Columbia Threadneedle, said dissatisfaction with health insurance companies that surfaced after Mr. Thompson's murder created “negative sentiment” surrounding insurance company stocks, causing their stocks to decline late last year. He pointed out that he did. Investors are worried about policy changes.
Despite the uncertainty, Peter Korchinski, managing partner at $10 billion biotech venture capital fund RA Capital, said he was bullish about the sector's outlook. “American health care operates with a lot of checks and balances, and I think it can accommodate ideological changes.”
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“Everyone wants a drug that really works,” Korchinsky added. “For example, rising infections among unvaccinated people reminds us that life is better with a vaccine. Ideology is not everything.”
“It's a big deal,” said Fred Hassan, former chief executive of Schering-Plough and now an advisor to private equity group Warburg Pincus. We will hear good news about the sector easing. ”
In a sign that brighter days may be coming, there were already glimmers of hope over the weekend, with big drug companies starting to spend on mergers and acquisitions to resolve the patent cliff and diversify their pipelines. According to a report in the Financial Times, both GSK and Eli Lilly are in the final stages of talks to acquire the cancer-focused biotech, while Biogen is acquiring depression drug maker Sage made an unsolicited bid of nearly $500 million for Therapeutics.
