Innovation and confidence at JP Morgan conference, says Edison analyst

The atmosphere at this year's annual JPMorgan Conference in San Francisco was understandably buoyant, which is hardly surprising after the Nasdaq Biotechnology Index rose by 35.0% in fiscal year 2014, said Mick Cooper, an analyst at Edison Investment Research.

This growth is set to continue, driven by M&A and innovation, according to Dr Cooper, who noted that there were some concerns about the impact of the various issues from the wider global economy affecting growth and fund-raising in first-half 2015. “However, even if there is a slowdown in growth for the sector, we remain confident about the longer-term prospects for the health care sector. During the conference we met about 90 companies in total, primarily from the biotech, medtech and speciality pharmaceutical sectors. They were uniformly optimistic about the future and reported constructive discussions with prospective business partners and investors,” he stated.

In many ways the tone for the conference was set by the announcement of Shire's acquisition of NPS Pharmaceuticals for $5.2 billion (The Pharma Letter January 12), as well as other small deals, on the eve of the event, he said.