More biology.
From Institutional Investor, May 13:
Stephen Schwarzman saw profits where others thought medical R&D was a bottomless pit.
Some hospital visits can be good for your financial health, too, as Blackstone Group chairman and CEO Stephen Schwarzman discovered.
His epiphany came on the day he joined the board of NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital in 2016. As part of the VIP treatment for new trustees, two researchers gave presentations on the latest medical breakthroughs at the institution.
Schwarzman was wowed by the health benefits. But his other reaction was: This can be a hugely profitable business, and Blackstone should figure out how to become a major player.
“It just seemed so obvious to me,” he says.
Back at his mid-Manhattan headquarters during the weekly management committee meeting, Schwarzman had Blackstone map out a life-sciences strategy. Its goal was to marshal the firm’s resources to help midwife the development of cutting-edge medications and biotechnology procedures.
The world is witnessing startling research and technological advances in medicines, developments with huge investment implications. Gene editing, mRNA, and artificial intelligence — to mention just a few — are speeding up the discovery and delivery of new drugs and raising the prospect of neutralizing deadly diseases even before a person exhibits symptoms.
But expenses for clinical trials and other development costs are skyrocketing. This has created a yawning gap in the supply and demand for research-and-development capital.
A few firms such as Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk are fattening up on weight-reduction drug sales. But most pharmaceutical and biotech companies have failed to raise anywhere near enough capital in the public markets and have seen their valuations plummet.
Critics point out alternative asset managers and hedge funds may not have enough to meet the capital demands for R&D in life sciences....
....MUCH MORE
Earlier today:
"Google creates self-replicating life from digital 'primordial soup'"
