BBHIC 2019, Day 2: Notes From the Floor

Biotech Investing
NASDAQ:APTO

The second day of the show had more company presentations, interviews and a panel discussion on R&D-stage healthcare companies.

After a successful first day to the Bloom Burton & Co. Healthcare Investor Conference (BBHIC), day two proved to be just as exciting for the annual event. 

Brian Bloom, CEO of Bloom Burton & Co., stressed again that this year drew the most attendees in the show’s eight year run in terms of investors and overall registrants.

The Investing News Network (INN) team was there at the show, conducting interviews and attending presentations and the day’s panel discussion. If you missed the event, don’t worry — we’ve got your BBHIC day two coverage right here.

Day two of BBHIC kicked off with a keynote address from Brad Loncar of Loncar Investments. Loncar’s presentation, called “Healthcare Dynamics in the US and China,” compared the differences between the two countries in several areas, including, of course, drug price issues.

In his presentation, Loncar broke down the biotech market in China, and how the sector in the country is growing.

From there, Loncar compared pharma valuations between the top companies in the US and China and how their market caps stack up against each other.

When it comes to drug pricing, Loncar highlighted how it’s not just a problem in the US, but in China as well, although at a different scale.

Finally, Loncar noted that the number of initial public offerings (IPOs) in China has grown, and that more are coming for the market.

After Loncar’s keynote speech, the show continued with company presentations between 9:30 a.m. EDT and 12:00 p.m. EDT, in addition to one-on-one investor meetings.

Acerus Pharmaceuticals (TSX:ASP,OTC Pink:TRLPF) was one of the presenters in the first half of the day, with CEO Ed Gudaitis presenting the company’s business model.

Bellus Health (TSX:BLU) also drew an impressive crowd for its morning corporate presentation.

Like the first day of the show, day two of BBHIC was divided by a midday panel discussion; this time, it was one called “Investing in R&D-stage Healthcare Companies.”

The panel was again moderated by Bloom himself, and featured speakers like Jerel Davis, managing director at Versant; David Sable, who directs healthcare and life science investing for the Special Situations Funds; Ting Jia, managing partner of Octagon Advisors; Doron Junger, portfolio manager at Sanvia Capital; and Maha Katabi, a partner at Sofinnova Investments.

Themes throughout the panel discussion were interest in cell and gene therapies as well as oncology.

Company presentations resumed in the afternoon, with several noteworthy talks, including one from ImmunoPrecise Antibodies (TSXV:IPA,OTC Pink:IPATF) CEO Jennifer Bath.

Day two of BBHIC proved to be another roaring hit with attendees, investors and companies alike, making next year’s event one to certainly look forward to.

INN conducted a number of video interviews over the course of the two day show. Investors can watch for discussions with Crestica Therapeutics (TSX:CTX), Zymeworks (TSX:ZYME,NYSE:ZYME), Aptose BioSciences (TSX:APS,NASDAQ:APTO), Antibe Therapeutics (TSXV:ATE,OTCQB:ATBPF), Titan Medical (TSX:TMD,NASDAQ:TMDI) and Acerus Pharmaceuticals.

Stay tuned for our exclusive interviews following BBHIC. And if you missed day one of BBHIC, you can find our coverage here. We will see you next year!

Don’t forget to follow us @INN_LifeScience for real-time news updates

Securities Disclosure: I, Jocelyn Aspa, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.

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