Caricature of JP Morgan as a bull
Every January an estimated 6,000 attendees descend like a cloud of dark suited locusts upon San Francisco’s Union Square at the Westin St. Francis hotel for the annual JPMorgan Healthcare Conference, the Woodstock of healthcare/biotech investing and dealmaking. This year, the mood ranged from cautious optimism to bullishness as attendees feverishly checked the pulse of the industry. While 2009 was a good year for those with cash, it was a forgettable year for the have nots, especially early stage and capital intensive startups.
Sunday-Calm Before the Storm
The beat-the-crowd strategy by checking-in early to the conference Sunday afternoon is met with a long line of people with the same thought. Fortunately the decision to return just before 9pm closing pays off. In a “green” move (and presumably to trim costs) JPMorgan had gotten rid of the traditional bottled water, printed conference book, and even the name badge lanyards. Strangely, they still handed out canvas conference totes with the JPM logo, empty. Even the traditional VC reception had been canceled.
Monday-Don’t Walk and Text at the Same Time
Monday starts with a 7:30 networking breakfast at the Daily Grill then on to the main conference. This is one event where security is tighter than a hot nightclub on a Friday evening. Burly eagle-eyed security men check for crashers. Why anyone would want to crash I do not know, given that most presentations are exceptionally dry and there are rare surprises. CEOs and CFOs rattle off dry safe harbor statements before they flip through their Powerpoints.
The monotony is broken by a loud crash. One large man tumbles halfway down the packed main staircase, miraculously landing unharmed, still clutching his Blackberry from which he had been texting. In the lobby by the clock, there is palpable stress as people check peruse their calendars, and look out for their next appointment.
As the last official presentation yawns to a close, the many cocktail receptions and company dinners take over. The under thirty-ish set flock to the Clift for the Lazard and Claris cocktails. which resembles a frat party as the night wears on. The tiny Four Seasons bar is packed. At the Goodwin & Proctor Press Club event a a greyer crowd, those that remember when the conference was still H&Q, sample fine wines.
Tuesday- Panhandlers and Picketers
The congregation of suits attracts a number of San Francisco’s ubiquitous and enterprising panhandlers who have staked themselves outside the hotel asking for spare change. Inside the lobby, it’s not much different as dozens of biotech startups attempt to wrangle more money out of venture capitalists and angel investors. The tension in the narrow, crowded hallways and lobbies is looser today, probably due to the many and varied cocktail receptions from the night before.
I break away to have coffee with Damien Lim of Singapore’s Bioveda Capital who is currently advising a new Indian sponsored Asian Healthcare Fund. He reports a handful of protesters outside the hotel picketing Merck. Really? Why not the whole conference or JPMorgan itself? Perplexing.
5:30 rolls around. First stop, the Bay City Capital reception, where the mood is ebullient. Fred Craves is chatting animatedly in the corner. I say hi to venture partner Nick Pliam and his wife Vivian Lee of Aqua Partners and move on. The BioCentury scotch tasting at the Hotel Monaco is a little more sedate as people sip 25 year Glenfarclas. I catch the tail end of the Ropes & Gray reception at Postrio and head back to the hotel.
Wednesday-Take Me Home
Dr. Freda Lewis-Hall, CMO and SVP , kicks the Pfizer women’s breakfast off with a bang with inspirational personal anectdotes and career advice. The conference, after all these years is still overwhelming male. The conference itself goes until Thursday, but three days is all I can take. Shiny black hotel Prius hybrids wait outside the Clift (this is California after all) but we opt for the more economical city taxi for our airport ride. The flight to New York is packed with other attendees also headed home. I swap cards with my rowmate, a commercialization consultant, who is pumped about the conference. We both agree: let’s hope for a good year.
Webcasts for most of the 300 companies presenting are publicly available at https://events.jpmorgan.com/
This could easily be mistaken for the Four Seasons in Chicago except it’s Damascus and the man in the gray suit is waving a bomb detector around our taxi before letting us up to the entrance. The hotel cars are Mercedes, but Chinese made cars are very popular among the local population.
