Last week I had the opportunity to attend my first JPM conference in San Francisco, 3.5 days, 80,000 steps and 40 meetings later I have a few notes.
The whole thing is a total zoo- with complex scheduling, a network of meeting spaces and hotels (corners of a lobby rented for thousands of $ per day) and tens of thousands of people (depressing bonus- no lines for the women's bathroom).
But aside from an opportunity to hear Jennifer Doudna talk about CRISPR edited cows and ride in fully autonomous Jaguar Waymos- what an unparalleled opportunity to have meaningful meetings for our portfolio companies and co-investors and move deals forward. There's nothing quite like getting out there and doing this in person.
Highlights and thoughts:
? Working with the broader Bridgewest Group investment and life sciences ecosystem Tommy Broudy, David Hewit, Mark W. Womack, Jonathan Kafer, Armand Amin, Rachel L. Timberlake, MBA was a highlight of the week.
It gave me a new appreciation for how unique and powerful the vertically integrated pharma offering at Bridgewest Group is. The ability to work with one group that could support an innovative company from proof of concept and clinical trial management through to GMP manufacture commercialisation (Bridgewest Ventures NZ BioValeo Ltd BioCina LumaCina - Bridgewest Perth Pharma) in the AuNZ region was a really powerful draw card for US investors, start ups and stranded asset companies. There are not many operators outside of slow and unwieldly large pharma cos who have a full view across that value chain.
? The life sciences investment sector is still struggling, with the sector accounting for less than ?5% of VC deals in 2024. Investor confidence is still wavering at every stage, people are leaning towards more de-risked, later stage investments and fewer rounds.
For Australian and New Zealand pharma companies, it's a challenge to fund pharma products that can compete with the de-risked stranded assets being partnered into the US in the short term. But, life science tools and diagnostic and development platforms seemed to be on everyone's funding radar, this is where we see a huge opportunity for NZ, to leverage our bio and engineering capabilities and launch life sciences tools and med device platforms developed to a high quality at a lower relative cost.
?? For Bridgewest Ventures NZ- the strategy of investing in life sciences technologies and platforms that give more than one shot on goal and working closely with those teams to drive execution is resonating early stage investors and CVCs.
We are looking for more of these ideas in 2025, reach out if you’re keen to talk on any of the above!
