BBHIC 2019, Day 2: Notes From the Floor

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.

Day two of #BBHIC2019 is off to a great start. Brad Loncar is giving his keynote on healthcare market dynamics in the U.S. and China. pic.twitter.com/GeV5BrtcI1

— Bloom Burton & Co (@bloomburton) May 1, 2019

Always great to hear @bradloncar speak. I knew him when.#BBHIC2019 pic.twitter.com/SoPYH9NM6v

— David Sable (@dbsable) May 1, 2019

Keynote speaker this morning is @bradloncar #BBHIC2019 #INNatBBHIC pic.twitter.com/7gURQLItEi

— INN Life Science (@INN_LifeScience) May 1, 2019

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

Currently giving a presentation on the #biotech market in China #BBHIC2019 #INNatBBHIC @bradloncar pic.twitter.com/ONQEXaGeZ3

— INN Life Science (@INN_LifeScience) May 1, 2019

@bradloncar delivering the keynote at #BBHIC2019! He is doing some fascinating work in the U.S. and Chinese #healthcare and #biotech markets. https://t.co/78GHNvWFfN

— Michael Wong (@aMichaelWong) May 1, 2019

Great keynote this morning by @bradloncar on the future with China in the #healthcare sector. #BBHIC2019 #biotech #pharma https://t.co/EehF1PmwTO

— David Palumbo (@palumboTO) May 1, 2019

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.

In terms of pharma in China, @bradloncar’s chart compares the top companies in the US and China #BBHIC2019 #INNatBBHIC pic.twitter.com/P3xD9O3Sqf

— INN Life Science (@INN_LifeScience) May 1, 2019

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.

As @bradloncar noted, drug pricing is a problem beyond the US #BBHIC2019 #INNatBBHIC pic.twitter.com/e8BaeA6mPQ

— INN Life Science (@INN_LifeScience) May 1, 2019

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

The number of public companies in China is growing, @bradloncar notes, with more IPOs on the way #INNatBBHIC #BBHIC2019 pic.twitter.com/DqhbYIckhS

— INN Life Science (@INN_LifeScience) May 1, 2019

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.

Next up @LifeSciencesON member @AcerusPharma and CEO Ed Gudaitis shares the organic model of the company. #lifesciences @bloomburton #BBHIC2019 pic.twitter.com/j3xjfZbRAo

— Andy Donovan, CFRE (@AndyDonovanCFRE) May 1, 2019

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

Great crowd out early this morning at #BBHIC2019 to hear an update from @rbellini on @BELLUSHealth. Just one of the many great Canadian #Healthcare stories presenting today. @bloomburton pic.twitter.com/SPSQ8GWTU4

— Matt Johnson (@realMWJ) May 1, 2019

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.

Lunch panel on R&D stage investing is starting. Jerel Davis of Versant Ventures says they have done seven deals in gene therapy/editing. Also likes cell therapy and regenerative medicine. #BBHIC2019 pic.twitter.com/554se8oW7a

— Brad Loncar (@bradloncar) May 1, 2019

Our friend ⁦@disable⁩ is talking about genetic medicine as a theme and preventing genetic diseases through IVF. #BBHIC2019 pic.twitter.com/VgMI4zMswh

— Brad Loncar (@bradloncar) May 1, 2019

Gene and cell therapies are also hot areas of interest #INNatBBHIC #BBHIC2019

— INN Life Science (@INN_LifeScience) May 1, 2019

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

Jennifer Bath, CEO of @ImmunoPrecise presenting at #BBHIC2019 #INNatBBHIC pic.twitter.com/46JNEM1lvI

— INN Life Science (@INN_LifeScience) May 1, 2019

One notable milestone the company had this year is potentially uplisting to the $NASDAQ from the $OTC $IPA #BBHIC2019 #INNatBBHIC

— INN Life Science (@INN_LifeScience) May 1, 2019

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.

The show is starting to wind down, but don’t worry the Investing News Network team will have tons of of Bloom Burton coverage following the show #INNatBBHIC #BBHIC2019 pic.twitter.com/ILQm81ifNh

— INN Life Science (@INN_LifeScience) May 1, 2019

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.

In the days following #BBHIC2019, look for our interviews with Crestica Therapeutics $CTX, @ZymeworksInc $ZYME and Aptose Biosciences $APTO from the first day of the conference #INNatBBHIC pic.twitter.com/DnDdKToEul

— INN Life Science (@INN_LifeScience) May 1, 2019

We will also have interviews with @AntibeThera $ATE, @TitanMedical $TMD and @AcerusPharma $ASP to watch for. Thanks for hosting a great show, @bloomburton! #INNatBBHIC #BBHIC2019 pic.twitter.com/fyVPlzO9AG

— INN Life Science (@INN_LifeScience) May 1, 2019

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.