Thoughts on JP Morgan Conference

There is a lot of good commentary and analysis of last week’s JP Morgan Healthcare conference, most notably here, here, and here. Here are a few of our thoughts as we look back at the conference:

1. Maybe it’s because it’s the start of a new year, or perhaps it’s that we’ve come out of several difficult years, but the optimism at JPM11 was palpable. Everyone was cautiously optimistic that 2011 will be “slightly better” than 2010. Nobody was wildly bullish, but nobody was pessimistic either.

2. It’s amazing how outsourcing and consultants can be creatively used to identify, develop, and commercialize products and services globally. At some point, we believe a wealthy individual is going to start a pharma company with their own funds and outsource everything while being the sole employee and shareholder.

3. We met folks doing business in Dubai, Nigeria, Chile, India, South Korea, and many other countries. Get the picture? Irrespective of company size and location along the value chain, we all have to think and act globally.

4. The majority of news from JP Morgan comes from publicly-traded companies. However, there is a large, strong, vibrant, subculture of smaller companies, investors, PR firms, and consultancies that successfully use JPM to springboard into the new year. If you only follow the press releases, you’re likely missing out on this vibrant culture.

Overall, JPM was a great success for our clients and for our firm. We look forward to using what we learned to help our clients in 2011 and beyond.