J.P. Morgan 2019: Industry Throws A Bonanza, With An Elephant In The Room

Major deal news and exciting science lent a boisterous vibe to the drug industry's big annual business meeting. But US drug pricing and macro political issues are factors industry can't ignore – even though it tried to.

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, USA - OCTOBER 24, 2015: Union Square view the view to Westin St. Francis entrance - Image

The drug industry's biggest business meeting of the year, the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference, kicked off with a bang Jan. 7, with deal news that set an animated tone for the four-day meeting.

On the opening day, Eli Lilly & Co. announced an $8bn acquisition of genetics-based cancer company Loxo Oncology Inc.. That announcement, coming just days after Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. unveiled a $74bn merger with Celgene Corp. and weeks after GlaxoSmithKline PLC moved on Tesaro Inc. for $5.1bn, triggered a feeling of optimism that 2019 will be a big year for deal-making – with plenty of speculation about what that will look like

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