Don't Mistake BIO CEO For J.P. Morgan
By Rob Wright, Chief Editor, Life Science Leader
Follow Me On Twitter @RfwrightLSL
During my recent visit to the BIO CEO & Investor Conference, February 10 – 11 at the Waldorf Astoria in New York City, there were several tweets (#BIOCEO14) comparing the event to the annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco. I wouldn’t say this is an accurate comparison — and that’s okay. J.P. Morgan, commonly referred to as JPM (hash tagged this year on Twitter #JPM14), has been in existence for 32 years. BIO CEO, on-the-other-hand, just celebrated its 16th year, a significant accomplishment in its own right. Thus, both events have stood the test of time. Yet both are very different, and to me, that is a good thing. But, since people want to compare the two, let’s do so.
Compare And Contrast Of JPM And BIO CEO
At the JPM conferences I’ve attended, the presenters have stuck to a presentation time limit, which is strictly enforced. Upon completion of the presentation, a Q&A is conducted in a separate room. Folks who want to ask a question of members of the executive management team of the presenters, hustle across the hall to grab a seat in a room that is often too small to hold the volume of people wishing to pose their queries. The halls are so jammed during the process that it reminds you of a popular college party. Many of the veteran attendees often just hang out in the Q&A rooms figuring most of the presentations consist of information they will be able to find online. If you chose to attend a presentation and the subsequent Q&A, you will be foregoing the opportunity to attend another presentation. The Q&As are led by a member of the J.P. Morgan team who have a list of prepared questions to get things started. On day one of JPM, there were six tracks, with presentations occurring every 30 minutes from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. and 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. One person can attend, at most, 15 individual company presentations. Or they can attend a combination of presentations and Q&As. In comparison, BIO CEO conducts the presentations and Q&A in the same room. The presenter is often introduced, but does not have a facilitated Q&A. Though there is a clock in the back of the room indicating a presentation time countdown, I have seen some speakers go over. This simply does not happen at JPM. On day one of this year’s BIO CEO event there were five presentation tracks with a separate educational-type track of either a fireside chat with an executive or an expert panel discussion. Because the Q&A at BIO CEO is conducted in the same room, I can theoretically attend 14 presentations and 14 Q&As. In addition, if there is a presentation taking place in a separate room on a different floor of the hotel, the halls aren’t so crowded at BIO CEO. This is not the case at JPM. BIO CEO provides opportunities for one-on-one meetings and takes great effort to help folks connect. I could have probably conducted 30 separate interviews while attending BIO CEO. I am not aware of such a service at JPM, for if there was, I would most certainly take advantage.
Thus, if there are some best practices I think each event could learn from one another they would be as follows. I like that JPM has someone guiding the Q&A. I think BIO CEO could benefit from implementing this practice and could probably get some help from folks at the NYSE, NASDAQ, BIO volunteers, or perhaps the media. I like how BIO CEO has the Q&A in the same room. I think JPM could probably benefit from a similar approach, but given its size and preferred venue, this is not likely to change. I am not sure that BIO CEO wants to get to the same size and scale of JPM, and in my humble opinion, nor should they. Sometimes less is more.
Less People Create Excellent Networking Opportunities
To be sure, both JPM and BIO CEO provide excellent networking opportunities. However, at BIO CEO, because it is less crowded and provides a breakfast seating area, (which JPM does not), I found some of my most productive networking experiences took place early in the morning. These were unplanned, unscripted, and absolutely delightful. For example, on the first day of BIO CEO, I had breakfast with Thomas Hoger, CEO/CFO of Apogenix; and Martin Weischof, Ph.D., of Opsona Therapeutics. Both are from the EU and took the time to share their insights. For instance, both believe Ireland to be the best model for how other EU countries should approach creating thriving life science industries. Conversely, both question if Ireland will be able to sustain its current level of initiative. On day two I had breakfast with Paul Ashton, Ph.D, CEO of pSividia Corp (NASDAQ: PSVD), who explained some of his company’s products. First he spoke about Durasert, a miniaturized, injectable, sustain-release drug delivery system. He also explained Tethadur technology systems, which if ever approved by the FDA, has the potential to be a drug delivery game changer. That’s actually a good example of the final difference between BIO CEO and JPM. Presentations at JPM are primarily conducted by well-established companies and executives who provide fairly conservative corporate opinions. Many of the executive presentations at BIO CEO make bold claims, promote bold ideas, and even use bold language, such as the CEO of CEL-SCI (NYSE: CVM), Gert Kersten, who kicked off his presentation stating, “We are not a safe company. We are trying to change the way we treat cancer.” Indeed, both conferences have similarities and differences, but both are worth attending if you have the opportunity.