Life Science Real Estate Team Goes Behind the Walls at JP Morgan Healthcare Conference
T3 Advisors continues to go beyond the building as our Life Sciences team was amongst 8,000 healthcare investors and CEOs at the 30th Annual JP Morgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco.
For years, the life science industry has been about innovation and new product design, yet as we walked the hallways and conference rooms of the JPM Conference, conversations tended to be geared around the macro changes like government spending and healthcare reform. Investors and CEOs alike are looking for answers as to why top line industry revenues are growing by only 3-4% rather than the 6-8% we saw from 2006 to 2008.
Of course there were some distinct cyclical issues in 2011, such as fewer U.S. medical procedures as a result of high unemployment and low consumer confidence, but most of the issues are due to the fundamental changes occurring in the sector. Companies continue to struggle with decreasing insurance reimbursement, declining compensation for U.S. physicians, healthcare reform fall out, regulatory obstacles, and price transparency across hospitals. All of these changes are ultimately reducing demand and putting added pressures on product mix and pricing for these types of companies.
Although there are no facts that lead us to believe macro changes will turn for the better in 2012, there was certainly a buzz around those companies that recently reached significant milestones and were optimistic about 2012. Some of the headlines from our conversations were the following:
Regulatory Successes
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TriReme Medical –received 510(K) clearance in the US for their Chocolate PTA balloon catheter.
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NinePont Medical - received 510(k) clearance from the US FDA to market its Nvision VLE Imaging System, a next-generation, high-resolution optical imaging technology.
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OptiMedica – received 510(k) market clearance of its Catalys Precision Laser System, a next generation laser cataract surgery system
New Fundraising
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Sera Prognostics – women's health company developing diagnostic tests for early prediction of preterm birth and other pregnancy complications, today announced the closing of a $19.3 million Series A financing led by venture capital firms InterWest Partners, Domain Associates and Catalyst Health Ventures.
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Aria Diagnostics – a molecular diagnostics company announced that it has secured more than $50 million in oversubscribed Series C funding. New investors included Meritech Capital Partners and a prominent mutual fund group. They joined existing investors Venrock and Domain Associates.
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HeartFlow – has raised another $75 million to develop the company’s technology which uses high-performance computing and data from CT scans to give doctors data about blood flow within coronary arteries.
In spite of the challenging macro forecasts, there were a number of hungry investors present looking for companies with strong clinical data and promising returns. The companies best situated for success will be those that develop new offerings and solutions most relevant to this changing environment. Are you a medical device company that has surpassed some of these funding and regulatory hurdles? Are you preparing for commercialization? T3 Advisors’ real estate industry expertise and real estate advisory services can help enable your company to implement ongoing real estate strategies saving both time and money.
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