Posted on January 12th, 2023. Posted by ICR Westwicke
Innovation, progress in clinical trials, and new breakthrough therapies have been and will continue to be the bedrock of value creation for investors in the biotech sector. We expect the sector will announce strong achievements in 2023, but investors may react with restraint as we have seen in 2022, which led to generally poor stock performance. A continuation of rising interest rates, ongoing Congressional scrutiny over drug pricing, and a subdued financing environment will be just a few of the headwinds the sector must contend with as we move through 2023. This underscores the need for a back-to-basics investor relations strategy that should position companies for the challenges that lie ahead. A well-planned investor relations strategy should include the following:
While layoffs in the technology sector haunted 2022, the role of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) and all things digital in healthcare continue to gain traction in the quest to improve patient care and reduce healthcare costs. In fact, AI and ML in healthcare are expected to surpass $20 billion in 2023 due to increasing adoption at record pace. Its application spans from drug discovery/development, a competitive race comprised of both the pharmaceutical and technology industries, to actual clinical use as evidenced in algorithms now used in identifying and better managing disease and in particular, neurodegenerative diseases such as multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s Disease and Alzheimer’s.
Healthcare continues to change at breakneck speed. Some of that change is clearly linked to effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, but other factors — politics, the courts, research, regulatory decisions, supply chain issues, a looming recession — are poised to have an outsized influence on an industry that has already undergone a radical transformation. What’s in store for healthcare and health policy in 2023? We took a look at a few critical areas.
The J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference is a few weeks away, and just about every management team and major investor in the industry understands the crucial role this conference plays in bringing all sides together. Simply put, there is no more important single event of the year within the world of healthcare investing.
However, this year will be different in San Francisco, not only from the standpoint of increased in-person attendance, but also much has changed in the equity markets over the last 12 months. With the NYSE and NASDAQ reflecting negative returns for 2022, the IPO market has seen a significant pullback in activity – down more than 80% from the new issue volume in 2021. These factors have led investors to become more cautious with an increased level of due diligence related to both new and existing investments.
While every quarter is different, the “playbook” for preparing senior management for a successful earnings conference call is largely the same. Specifically, the best prepared CEOs and CFOs follow a set of key strategic and tactical steps designed to bring them through a review of all the essential elements pertinent to the investment community’s analysis of quarterly earnings. In short, CEOs and CFOs that have allocated adequate time to understanding the results, in the context of both internal and external expectations, and are capable of addressing all possible topics with ease and transparency, will succeed. Drafting the conference call script is just one piece of this important process. Below, we walk you through these best practices of an effective earnings call.
Posted on October 25th, 2022. Posted by ICR Westwicke
After a significant biotech boom over the last few years, the market has quieted. What does that mean for companies that want to pursue an IPO, and what are banks and analysts looking for in potential investments?
To gain perspective on the current biotech investment landscape and sector outlook, ICR Westwicke recently hosted a webinar, “ICR Healthcare Symposium: Biotech Investment Landscape – Sell-Side Perspective.” During the event, ICR Westwicke’s Chris Brinzey and Brandon Weiner spoke with Josh Schimmer, Evercore ISI fundamental research analyst, and Andrew Tsai, Jefferies analyst, about the latest investment trends in biotech and how companies considering an IPO can position themselves for a favorable investment profile.
From new treatments and technologies to platforms and diagnostics, we may be living through the greatest period of innovation in the history of healthcare. The biopharma industry’s efforts to rapidly develop multiple safe and efficacious life-saving vaccines for the Covid-19 pandemic is just the latest example of the collective appreciation for innovation and its ability to impact human health. While the industry loves true innovations—and the brilliant minds who envision them—being an innovator is not for the faint of heart.
Posted on September 7th, 2022. Posted by ICR Westwicke
While quarterly earnings calls may happen routinely, they should be anything but routine. Earnings calls are your opportunity to tell your story to the world — and they’re one of the few times each year you have the chance to capture the undivided attention of your analysts and investors. So, it’s essential to make these calls count.
The second quarter of 2022 was the weakest quarter for healthcare and biotech IPOs in more than five years. Some media headlines have predicted that it marked the bottom of the biotech market.
The XBI biotech index fund, which serves as an index for many companies that are eyeing a public debut, peaked in January 2021 followed by a fairly steady 16-month decline. But now, the XBI is on the rise. While it’s too soon to know if the XBI rise that kicked off in July 2022 will continue to mirror the rise that drove its 2021 peak, the climb appears to be signaling a comeback of healthcare and biotech IPOs.
If you’re watching the fund, you might now be considering reviving your plans to take your company public.
I have always found it interesting to discover what’s on people’s minds and delve into what keeps them up at night. So, I thought it would be useful to share the questions I have received recently from a mix of public and private biotech management teams, along with my responses.
