As the second day of the 42nd J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference dawned in San Francisco, experts from Boston Consulting Group, Merck, CVC and more provided their outlook on the year ahead.
Pictured: A doctor points to a brain scan/iStock, gorodenkoff
Biotech in 2023 had an eventful—to say the least—spell with a market that was still recovering, and topics such as weight loss and artificial intelligence took on a new prevalence in the industry’s lexicon. Speaking at an event hosted by consulting company Boston Consulting Group on Tuesday, several experts provided their views on what the industry can expect in 2024.
Sunil Patel, senior vice president and head of Corporate Development and Business Development and Licensing at Merck, said that more “innovation turnover,” exemplified by the GLP-1 space, is generating excitement. He also noted an uptick in neuroscience deals.
“We think that in 2024 and probably 2025, you’ll see more complementary mechanisms come to the forefront,” he said. “Neuroscience [was] a really big thing at the end of [Q4]; we saw a lot of transactions happen. We think going forward that is an area of commitment, and most of the large scientific-based pharmaceutical companies want to participate in it.”
Patel said there has been a capital shift in the market and that while there is a lot of innovative science out there, early-stage companies are struggling to find funds. Patel contends this market will be prioritized in 2024, specifically focusing on discovery-based companies.
David Gluckman, vice chairman of Investment Banking and global head of Healthcare at financial services company Lazard, told the crowd there is positivity around precision medicine, RNA-based technologies and artificial intelligence. Many panelists were bullish about AI, as its applications have been seen across various aspects of the biotech industry.
“This convergence with technology and AI coming into the space is having a profound impact on medicine,” Cathrin Petty, managing director and head of Healthcare at CVC, said. “That partnership between the practitioners in AI and how that is verified and managed will be critical in this next 5-year period. I think that’s going to drive a lot of the efficiency that’s needed to solve these huge demands that are out there.”
Patel said he sees AI and machine learning as helping to ensure efficiency and bring high-quality medicines to the market more quickly.
The biopharma industry is “high failure,” Patel said. “We spend billions of dollars, and we fail all the time. It costs a lot of money, and . . . we can’t ever get back this time.” AI and ML can help identify targets and quickly hone in on a specific one, he said.
In terms of GLP-1 medicines, while experts don’t see the boom going away anytime soon, Gluckman said the debate around reimbursement for these drugs will be something to watch.
Tyler Patchen is a staff writer at BioSpace. You can reach him at tyler.patchen@biospace.com. Follow him on LinkedIn.
