Thread by @vasudevbailey

This week in Techbio happenings is focussed around highlights from a fantastic week back at JPM! So much energy and so great seeing so many fantastic minds! #techbio #JPM23
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1/ Exciting to be back at the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference after 2 years of virtual meetings! In-person, the energy is back, and it was great to see both familiar & new faces building great things in the techbio space. #JPM23

2/ This conference is always a great opportunity to see innovative minds in healthcare. Exciting founders, investors, & pharma leaders in attendance. The momentum & energy in the city this week is a great sign for the year ahead.

3/ First off, we kicked off #JPM23 with the @ArtisVentures TechBio cocktail party! Thanks to the team and many guests for making this such a great start to the week.

4/ Before we dive in, a few trends we are seeing heading into 2023…

5/ Total VC dollars deployed in Seed/A in H2 ’22 (~2.5B) declined by almost 50% from highs in H2 ’21 (~4.9B)… but we saw round size and valuations hold up. Great companies are still getting funded at competitive levels, though $ are harder to come by

6/ While total healthcare VC investment declined from 2021 highs, 2022 was a record year in early stage (seed/A) health tech investment… by round size, total investment, and valuation… but investors excited about new digital tools w/ clearer path to profitability

7/ Uncertainty in capital markets led many to delay their rounds until 2023. That, coupled with many who raised in frothy ‘21 returning to the markets, should make for a very competitive year… data, revenue, and minimal burn even more important

8/ IPO market dried up in 2022. But with record cash on pharma balance sheets, we didn’t expect private M&A activity to be as slow. The giants looked to the public markets instead for acquisition last year, and are poised to find private market deals (some bargains) in ‘23

9/ The IPO and M&A halt was particularly stark in the world of healthtech: healthtech exit values (IPO + acquisitions) totaled $62B in 2021… and $2.2B in 2022. With growth funding hard to come by, we expect to see M&A tick up this year as players look/are forced to consolidate

10/ Providers continue to deal with rising costs, burnout, and inefficient workflows. Protip: Differentiate on margin improvement, revenue generation and be prepared for even longer sales cycles

11/ Companies raising by marketing themselves as "AI drug discovery cos" no longer have that luxury. Protip: Figure out what makes you special beyond computational bio/ AI? Novel biology? Pharma parnterships? Great grants? In vivo data? every bit helps.

12/ Now turning back to JPM - many organizations make big announcements around the conference… here are some that stood out:

13/ Tessera Therapeutics (@TesseraTx) steams ahead in the wide new world of DNA-editing therapies. Exciting preclinical data in nonhuman primates with their delivery system, a critical step toward in-human studies:

https://twitter.com/TesseraTx/status/1613547473967915009?s=20&t=2RRgioDz4tMW8LrJJzdzQg

14/ After 12 years at the helm and overseeing an innovative, protein-based COVID vaccine program, @Novavax CEO Stanley Erck is stepping down:

https://twitter.com/AnjKhem/status/1612449121847357445

15/ Speaking of COVID, mRNA vaccines are heating up. @Moderna_Tx announces it plans to hire thousands of new employees and double its R&D budget:

https://twitter.com/RLCscienceboss/status/1612582471069224969?cxt=HHwWksDS8dXNheEsAAAA

16/ What’s better than a planned $200 genome price tag? A $200 genome that’s already available. @ElemBio announces their new sequencing system during #JPM23:

https://twitter.com/ElemBio/status/1613194406848258048

17/ @bradloncar talks with @artisventures Pioneer Bahija Jallal (@JallalBahija) all things immunotherapy and drug development:

https://twitter.com/bradloncar/status/1612652352724701185?s=42&t=3zZ4mDjombIPfpKgDBaUiw

18/ Gene therapy market continues to heat up. @bluebirdbio announces plan to bring novel gene therapies to the US:

https://twitter.com/MikeHuckman/status/1613570766779580416

19/ @roivantsciences optimism rising after phase 2 readout of RVT-3101 and phase 2 and 3 readouts for brepocitinib for lupus and dermatomyositis respectively.
fiercebiotech.com/biotech/jpm23-…

20/ @Humana increases enrollment in 2022 after poor growth in 2021 and is hopeful for consistent growth in 2023 for Medicare Advantage enrollment
fiercehealthcare.com/payers/jpm23-h…

21/ @AmitEtkin presents phase 2 data for ALTO-100 for major depressive disorder developed by @AltoNeuro at #JPM23 with hopes of enrolling patients for phase 2b soon.

22/ #JPM23 presentation by @KarunaPharma shows hope for KarXT NDA submission mid-2023 and to start phase 3 of ADEPT-2 trial and phase 3 of the ADEPT-3 trial in 2023 in treatment of schizophrenia.

https://twitter.com/KarunaPharma/status/1613179218795581440

nature.com/articles/s4139…

23/ New strategies in diagnostics on display at #JPM23 - Freenome’s Mike Nolan highlights partnering with CVS and Cerner to increase accessibility. @freenome @CVSHealth @Cerner
fiercebiotech.com/medtech/jpm23-…

24/ Activ Surgical (@activ) has completed their first AI-enabled surgery, pioneering a future in which AI works hand-in-hand with surgeons to create better outcomes for patients @ameenaelbibany
massdevice.com/activ-surgical…

25/ @US_FDA Commissioner @DrCaliff_FDA discusses new standards for accelerated approvals, clinical trial reform, inclusivity and combating misinformation
medpagetoday.com/washington-wat…

26/ Diversifying databases with 30,000 African-American genomes will go a long way in creating equitable health outcomes (partnership b/w @illumina, @NashvilleBio, @Amgen):

https://twitter.com/GENbio/status/1612844708774002691

27/ @atulbutte highlights the increasing number of AI-algorithms cleared for clinical use - practical applications are already here!

https://mobile.twitter.com/atulbutte/status/1612228528719958019

28/ @CVSHealth reportedly exploring an acquisition of Medicare advantage-focused @OakStreetHealth, valuing it at $10+B… and has invested $100M into Carbon Health to pilot primary/urgent care in retail stores. Companies continue to try to meet patients where they are

29/ @cuehealth was selected by @mnhealth to deliver free telehealth services to Minnesota residents. Two years into the pandemic, digital players are finding ways to stick around
businesswire.com/news/home/2022…

30/FTC proposed banning non-compete clauses to allow workers to change employers and protect economic liberties, a rule that could increase wages by close to $300 billion/yr. (ABOUT TIME!)

31/ Overall a great return to in-person events - here's looking to #JPM24 and a great 2023 for TechBio!