I just returned from the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco. If you haven't been, it's quite an event--imagine a mosh pit for more than 3,500 investment bankers, financial analysts, venture capitalists and healthcare executives from the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical device, dental, diagnostics and benefit management businesses.
That's right, thousands of men and women in dark suits, crammed elbow-to-elbow in the halls and meeting rooms of the historic Westin St. Francis Hotel looking for the next big thing in healthcare. One TV commentator termed it the "Superbowl of Healthcare Conferences." With multiple presentations taking place every half hour for four days, and countless one-on-one and group meetings among the financial and healthcare exes, it resembles a highly orchestrated exercise in speed dating. GSK CEO Andrew Witty presented on Tuesday and a webcast of his presentation can be found here.
The meeting is a must for many in healthcare because it offers attendees opportunities to get updates on company strategies and seek out possible collaborations within a highly concentrated time and place. This annual event--this was the 28th--shows that even in this age of ubiquitous telecommunications and connectivity, we still highly value looking someone in the eye. Face-to-face: there is no substitute.
And that's what the GSK team was up to at the meeting--300 face-to-face meetings with current partners and potential new collaborators. That's not to suggest that we'll strike 300 new deals on the heels of the meeting, but it's a great way to get connected or stay in touch. With upwards of 40 collaborations in place, and a sizeable percentage of our R&D efforts done through partnerships, we have a lot to stay connected with and clearly want to find and check out new ways to hook up.
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