As the curtain falls on the 44th edition of the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco, a medtech company CEO believes the conference’s perceived value is declining, with more companies likely to pass on attending the event in future.
Speaking to Medical Device Network, Dave Rosa, CEO of neurology-focused medtech company NeuroOne, who has been attending the conference for around 25 years, relayed quotes from attendees at the bustling event. According to Rosa, many people have commented “I don’t think I’m going to come next year” given they no longer “see the value” in attending.
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“And I heard that big companies like Stryker and Abbott chose not to attend this year, and these strategics usually always attend,” Rosa added.
In the past, Rosa says that a company would go to J.P. Morgan’s conference, book a meeting room, and have back-to-back meetings all throughout the event. However, his view is that nowadays, it has become “harder to accomplish much” within this structure.
“The meetings that I’ve had here, which are around half an hour long, are more of an update, more to say, ‘hey, we’re still interested’, or that it’s ‘good to hear you’re still interested, we’re making great progress’, but not a lot more than that can really be addressed in half an hour,” Rosa said.
“So, from a ‘what are we gaining out of this?’ standpoint, the feeling for many is that the value isn’t there,” Rosa concluded.
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By GlobalDataThe ‘astronomical’ cost of attending the J.P. Morgan conference
Another factor Rosa highlighted may be stymying the appeal of the J.P. Morgan conference is the plain cost associated with attending the event.
From undertaking some research, Rosa said the “average hotel” he stayed at would cost around $400 per night In February, and around $600 in March.
“The room I’m in now is almost $2,500 per night,” Rosa shared. “For three nights, I’m spending over $8,000 to stay in this room, and there’s a lot of small companies that can’t even afford that.”
Rosa also estimated that the $2,600 he paid to fly out to San Francisco was “seven-to-eight times” more than what it would usually cost, with other price gouging tactics in evidence. Many coffee shops in the vicinity of the conference’s venue have been charging a $40 minimum just to sit down, Rosa said, with other attendees telling him they were charged around $70 for a half-mile Uber ride from their hotel to the conference venue.
Rosa said: “My point is that people’s feeling that they’re not getting as much quality from attending the meeting, coupled with the astronomical, out of control costs, are dampening the overall enthusiasm to attend.”
According to Rosa, J.P. Morgan has mulled moving the conference to an alternative destination such as Las Vegas or New York because they are aware of the high costs, but he views a move in the near-term as unlikely.
Situated in San Francisco, Rosa points out that it’s around a 40-minute drive for the large cluster of investors in Silicon Valley to reach the conference.
“I think that’s what’s driving the conference organisers to stay in San Francisco,” Rosa continued.
“However, if they start seeing attendance go down, and more large companies stop attending, I think they’re either going to have to address the cost with the hotels out here, or they’re going to have to move it.”
Across the medtech and pharma industries, there has been a lull in M&A announcements at this year’s conference. Historically, large deals and alliances are first made public at J.P. Morgan as companies take advantage of the hive of investors and media. Boston Scientific made sure there was at least one megadeal, agreeing to acquire Penumbra in a $14.5bn acquisition.
