Life sciences and healthcare
20th November 2024
- Jefferies Healthcare Temperature Check
- Breast cancer drug blocked for NHS use in England and Wales after talks collapse – The Guardian
- ‘Some call it the JP Morgan of Europe’: Jefferies’ London conference goes big for 2024 – FierceBiotech
- The new Republican war on science – Financial Times
- Smart ring maker Oura hits a $5bn valuation after raising $75m – Sifted
- Medical society chief to lead safety review of physician associates – The Times
- Jupiter takes off with $70m fund for cancer biotechs – FierceBiotech
- GSK plots regulatory filings for PBC itch after positive phase 3 readout – Endpoints
- Holistic strategies needed to diagnose and treat endometriosis – BioWorld
| FTI Consulting at London life sciences week |
| The global FTI Consulting life sciences and healthcare team will be at the Jefferies conference and London life sciences week from 17-21 November. The team will be out in full force including at LSX Investival Showcase, the Jefferies London Healthcare Conference and many other events throughout the week. Our experts at the event cover multiple disciplines including corporate communications, financial communications, M&A and transaction communications, public affairs, tax advisory and corporate finance (valuation and financial advisory services). On Thursday 21 November, FTI Consulting will be hosting a workshop at the Jefferies conference. Our public affairs focussed experts from Washington DC, Brussels and London will examine the potential effects of this year’s elections around the globe on the life sciences and healthcare sectors. If you’d like to meet with any of the team please email us. Email FTI |
| Jefferies Healthcare Temperature Check In partnership with Jefferies, we are pleased to share the annual Jefferies Healthcare Temperature Check research report which explores the issues at the top of the healthcare agenda. The survey captured a record number of views from senior leaders and investors from across the global healthcare sector on topics including the impact of the state of the Healthcare market, the impact of ongoing inflation and the outlook for capital markets activity. This year’s report signals the growing confidence in the sector with investors seeing the greatest opportunity in Mid- and Small-Cap Pharmaceuticals in 2025, alongside the belief that M&A levels will rebound. The view from across the sector is that whilst capital constraints are still causing some concern, the impact on companies has lessened. The report also highlights that respondents from across the sector feel that GLP-1s are here to stay and will continue to have an impact on global healthcare throughout 2025, in addition to the increasing importance of technology, such as AI, in unlocking new treatments and approaches to healthcare. Read the full report here >> |
| Denis Campbell of The Guardian reports that the UK’s National Institute for Health and Care Excellence said it had not been able to reach agreement with AstraZeneca and Daiichi Sankyo so that it could approve Enhertu’s use in England and Wales. It is the third time that talks to try to agree a price for the drug have failed, which means that women with incurable breast cancer will not be able to obtain it. Wes Streeting, the UK Health Secretary, had personally intervened to attempt to ensure that negotiations between Nice and the manufacturers. The Guardian >> James Waldron of FierceBiotech reports that every table was filled with biotech execs, financiers and other industry affiliates at this years Jefferies Conference. Genmab’s CFO Anthony Pagano said one potential reason for the conference’s increased popularity is the decrease of “geographic differentiation” by biopharma’s increasingly adopting a transatlantic mindset. Pharma execs drilled down to BD strategies. Bristol Myers Squibb spelled out how the drugmaker’s $1.5bn cost-savings initiative will free up funds to invest into more programmes like recently approved Cobenfy. FierceBiotech >> Anjana Ahuja of the Financial Times writes Robert F Kennedy’s proposed appointment as head of the Department of Health and Human Services emphasises Trump’s disdain for many consensus positions in science and health. She comments that researchers across the world will now need courage and resolve in the face of a new Republican war on science, which may lead to the US exiting the Paris climate agreement and the WHO. It is a moment for scientists to reflect on how to nurture constructive relationships with politicians and voters who are instinctively hostile. Financial Times >> Kai Nicol-Schwarz of Sifted reports that smart ring maker Oura has hit a $5.2bn valuation after raising a $75m Series D from US continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) giant Dexcom. The two companies also announced a strategic partnership that will integrate products including Dexcom’s CGMs and Oura’s ring, which track users’ sleep, physical activities and health data, and app. The news follows a shopping spree for Oura as the company has looked to continue its expansion beyond just sleep tracking. Sifted >> Eleanor Hayward of The Times reports that Wes Streeting has ordered a safety review into the NHS rollout of physician associates (PAs) in an attempt to end a “toxic debate” within the medical profession. The health secretary has asked Professor Gillian Leng, president of the Royal Society of Medicine, to lead an independent review into the role of the healthcare workers. The NHS is planning to expand the number of PAs in England from 3,500 to 10,000 by 2036-2037. The review, which will report in Spring 2025, will assess whether the rollout should continue as planned. The Times >> Gabrielle Masson of FierceBiotech reports that venture capital fund Jupiter Bioventures is taking off with $70m for a portfolio of cancer-adjacent biotech startups, or what Jupiter has dubbed its system of moons. The company’s founders, Mission BioCapital and the Mayo Clinic, are joined by an investor galaxy that includes Alexandria Venture Investments and Bioventure Partners, among others. The $70m will be shuttled across eight to ten companies developing cancer therapeutics or working in other disease spaces that benefit from cancer biology insights. FierceBiotech >> Nicole DeFeudis of Endpoints reports that GSK’s linerixibat helped reduce itch in patients with a rare bile duct disease, meeting its primary endpoint in a late-stage trial. If approved, linerixibat would be the first drug on the US market to treat itch related to primary biliary cholangitis, a condition that mainly affects women and can cause liver damage. It’s also associated with a relentless itch that feels like it’s under the skin. While first-line primary biliary cholangitis treatments may control the disease, they may not reduce the severity of itching. Endpoints >> Tamra Sami of BioWorld reports that Endometriosis has been woefully under-recognised in the medical community, and consequently, the delay between onset and diagnosis is often quite long, with some women waiting up to 12 years for a diagnosis. It affects about 10% of women. One in three women with endometriosis have fertility problems and it is more common than breast cancer, prostate cancer and diabetes. The physical and financial burden of endometriosis reflects the ongoing disparity in women’s health research. BioWorld >> |
Upcoming events
- Jefferies London Healthcare Conference, London (19-21 November)
- Citi Global Healthcare Conference, Miami (3-5 December)
- American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting and Exposition (ASH), San Diego (7-10 December)
