JPM 2024 Survival Guide

CSSi LifeSciences has developed this Survival Guide to help you maximize the number of meetings scheduled with investors and strategic licensing partners attending the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conferences and thereby increase your opportunities for success. 

November 29, 2023

Brought to you by CSSi LifeSciences Partnering Forum at the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference

This Survival Guide outlines the 5 major steps to achieving success at a Partnering Conference:

• Business Profile (“Elevator Pitch”) – The Business Profile consists of a 4-6 sentence description of your company, your product and what it does, and your needs regarding partners and funding. It should serve as a brief introduction to your corporate entity.
• Web and Email Addresses – Provide your email contact address and a URL linking to your company website, if one has been developed.  Your email address should not be an academic account or a Gmail address.  It is important to review your website to ensure that no medical claims or statements that have not been cleared or approved by the US FDA have been made.
• Pitch Deck & Executive Summary – Include your investor presentation and executive summary attached as pdfs (avoid docx. or pptx. files), making it as easy as possible for investors to access and review these critical documents. The pitch deck should not exceed 10-12 slides:  it should tell your story in brief using good narrative flow, serving primarily as a ‘teaser’.
• Filters – Select the sector and sub-sector that best define your company, the indication you are targeting, and your lead product’s current stage of development. These filters serve to direct investors and strategic partners to companies that align with their funding or investor mandate.
• Technology Overview – Provide a brief overview of the principal mechanism of action of your technology and the problem it will solve while avoiding the release of confidential information.  Remember, the US patent office recognizes first to file and not first to invent.
• Supporting Data – Present a summary of the data that supports your current stage of product development. Ensure that the data is easy to understand and is presented in an organized manner.  It is critical to remember that some investors attending the CSSi LifeSciences Partnering Forum will not have a scientific background.
• Alliances and Collaborations – Highlight any partnerships that you have formed with strategic partners (i.e., NIH, DOD, etc.).  These partnerships provide investors with further validation of your data and/or product potential.
• Current Financing Needs – Briefly summarize your financing goals to make it very easy for investors to understand your needs (i.e., Company X is striving to raise a $10M Series A with 20% committed). If you are seeking a strategic partnership or planning to license your technology, prepare an estimate of your financial needs that is as accurate as possible. 
• Current Investors – Identify those who have already invested in your company and the amount of capital that has been raised. This could be dilutive or non-dilutive funding to showcase past traction in attracting capital (i.e., $1.1MM convertible note from friends and family; and $2.5 MM NIH SBIR).
• Timeline – Provide a brief overview of the key milestones achieved to date (i.e., FDA Orphan Designation, FDA meeting, etc.) and a development plan with milestones you plan to achieve within the next 1-2 years.  Investors want to know when they can expect a return on their investment.
• IP Status – Include a summary of your current IP portfolio (e.g., issued or pending), action dates, and future IP plans.
• Management Team Highlights –Briefly convey why key members of your management team are uniquely positioned to grow and exit the company.  Investors want to ensure that the management team is “bankable.”

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• Cover slide: This slide, displaying your company logo, shouldprovide corporate contact information (i.e., mobile, email, website address) and/or contact information for the main fundraising executive. Avoid info@ email addresses. Investors from outside the US may prefer your WhatsApp contact. 
• Summary slide: Should be adapted from your elevator pitch to briefly highlight the key points regarding your company.
• Unmet medical need: State the problem or unmet medical need and the commercial opportunities.
• Solution: Describe how your product solves the unmet medical need (i.e., your unique technology).
• Differentiation: Describe how you are different from your competitors and describe your competitive hook. It is important to define if you are “First-in Class” or “Best-in-Class.”
• Supporting Data: Summarize the supporting data that defines your product, the mechanism of action, and the evidence the product is safe and effective. It is essential that the amount of data presented is not overwhelming: only 3-4 slides are needed. Images and graphics should be used where possible.
• Development timeline with milestones: The current financing needs, the use of proceeds, and the timing must be clearly defined and realistic.
• Corporate and Scientific Advisory Board: Provide a summary of your corporate and scientific advisory boards. Highlight the Board’s proven experience in growing and successfully exiting other companies.
• Closing: Thank the investor and again provide corporate contact information (i.e., mobile number, email, website address) or contact information for the main fundraising executive.

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Also, within the CSSi LifeSciences Partnering Forum platform, you should request meetings with as many potential investors and strategic partners that align with your company mission as possible.

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1st follow-up

Focus on your unique technology and competitive hook. For example:

Company name is a commercial stage University of XYZ spin-out with a portfolio of surgical and imaging technologies designed to deliver Empowered Patient Care with point-of-care ultrasound in new perioperative applications.

Company name’s initial technology is a dual-component system comprising an FDA-cleared bioabsorbable implant (name) and an FDA-cleared custom automated ultrasound (name) to detect post-operative vascular complications in reconstructive, transplant, and vascular surgeries prior to catastrophic surgical failures that represent a $2B annual market and cost hospitals $174,000 per instance. Company name is also developing pipeline products for angiography/surgical navigation and perfusion assessment.

Include your contact details and a Calendly link if you have one set up.

2nd follow-up

Focus more on your market and the commercial opportunities available. For example:

Company name closed a $$$ venture round in early 2018, recently secured a $$$ NIH grant to pursue the XYZ market for the technology, confirmed ~$$$ in reimbursement for that market, and is now raising a $$$ round for commercial growth and accelerating pipeline product development. Company name is currently in negotiations with a potential lead and is evaluating other lead candidates and syndicate partners. We look forward to connecting with you.

Include your contact details and a Calendly link if you have one set up.

3rd follow-up

Focus more on your motivated and qualified management team. For example:

Attempt to book a meeting with the target partner outside of the partnering platform and send them a hyperlink to your company’s website and investor presentation.

Include your contact details and a Calendly link if you have one set up.

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CSSi LifeSciences will host the annual Partnering Forum during the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference at the Hilton San Francisco Union Square hotel from January 8-11, 2024.

The event provides a unique opportunity for participating sponsors to meet emerging and established life science companies that require a broad range of professional services to advance their products to commercial success. If you are interested in attending the event, click on the button below.

CSSi LifeSciences are thankful to their sponsors who are helping them put on their Partnering Forum during the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference: