The 42nd annual JPMorgan Healthcare Conference kickstarts on Monday in San Francisco, California, and the four-day event will run through Thursday. The investment bank touts the conference as the “most informative health care investment symposium in the industry, which connects global industry leaders, emerging fast-growth companies, innovative technology creators, and members of the investment community.”
What To Expect: The event will likely be attended by 8,000 people, including delegates from biopharma companies. Apart from conference presentations, JPMorgan will also host private, invite-only events for industry leaders on the sidelines of the conference.
In the past, the event has served as a platform for discussing and announcing deals in the healthcare and biopharma spaces. With sentiment toward the sector improving in 2023 and M&A transactions picking up pace after a lull period, it shouldn’t be surprising if more are announced at the conference.
In December, Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. BMY agreed to pay $14 billion for neuropsychiatry biotech Karuna Therapeutics, Inc. KRTX. Also during the month, AbbVie, Inc. ABBV stitched up a $8.7 billion deal to buy neuroscience diseases-focused Cerevel Therapeutics Holdings, Inc. CERE.
Companies could also choose to make preannouncements or update financial outlook, given the imminent onset of the fourth-quarter reporting season.
A lot of discussions could revolve around the use of artificial intelligence and robotics in healthcare, the new fad of weight-loss medications, and the healthcare and drug pricing reforms during the election year.
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Here’re some key presentations scheduled for Monday:
- Bristol-Myers Squibb CEO Christopher Boerner will make a presentation and answer questions at 10:30 a.m. ET.
- Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Inc. VRTX: CEO Dr. Reshma Kewalramani is scheduled to make a presentation at 11:15 a.m. ET. Ahead of its JPM appearance, the company issued a pipeline update on Sunday.
- Amgen, Inc. AMGN: CEO Robert Bradway will present at 12 p.m. ET.
- Sarepta Therapeutics, Inc. SRPT: Senior management of the company will present at the conference at 12 p.m. ET.
- Moderna, Inc. MRNA: The vaccine company’s CFO, Jamey Mock, will present at 6:45 p.m. ET.
Is Conference A Market Mover? The SPDR S&P Biotech ETF XBI, which tracks the performance of the S&P Biotechnology Select Industry Index, has made an average gain of merely 0.76% over the past decade, STAT News said in a report. The report noted that there were outlier years as well, as in the case of 2016 – an election year when the index fell 7% during the conference week amid fears concerning drug pricing reforms.
In 2019, when Bristol-Myers lapped up Celgene, the index was up about 8%, it added.
Even if the conference doesn’t move the broader sector, individual stocks could come under significant volatility depending on the news flow from presentations.
In premarket trading on Monday, the XBI edged down 0.27% to $89.06, according to Benzinga Pro data. The index gained 7.6% in 2023, rebounding from the previous year’s 26% slump.
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