ANN ARBOR – The last month served as a great opportunity to relax, recharge, and catch up on needed tasks.

As we begin the New Year, I have only one company visit to share with you. I recently visited Centurion Medical Products in Williamston. The privately-held company with 1,100 employees and revenues around $200 million, manufactures and packages single-use instrument trays, catheter securement/stabilization and dressings. Centurion has plants in Howell, Mich.; North Carolina; Arizona and Mexico and has been around since 1961 when it began as Tri-State Hospital Supply.

I spent the last week attending the JPMorgan (JPM) Healthcare Conference ? which is arguably the most important health care conference of the year, bringing together pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical device makers under one roof. This annual event gives health care companies a chance to demonstrate to investors and Wall Street analysts how they performed in 2013, as well as their objectives and expected growth going forward. While the atmosphere seemed quieter than in 2013, a record 9,200 attendees crammed themselves like sardines in San Francisco?s Westin St. Francis Hotel.

What an event! Exhausting as it may be, with over 400 companies presenting in seven tracks from 8 a.m. ? 4:30 p.m., I felt like a kid in a candy store. Good fortune and downright persistence allowed me to meet and speak with CEOs like John Lechleiter (Lilly), Vince Forlenza (BD), Mike Mahoney (Boston Scientific), Chris Veibacher (Sanofi), Bob Hugin (Celgene), Omar Ishrak (Medtronic), George Barrett (Cardinal Health), Mike Mussallem (Edwards Life Sciences), Marc Casper (Thermo Scientific), Joe Papa (Perrigo), Kevin Lobo (Stryker), Ron Cohen (Acorda Therapeutics), Larry Culp (Danaher), David Brennan (ex-Astra Zeneca), and any many others. It was a great opportunity to talk up Michigan?s bio-industry, seek connections to their business development/licensing executives, and approach them as potential speakers at a future MichBio event.

JPM 2014 generated a pretty good buzz amongst attendees, especially over the prospects of more deal making. Time will tell if that translates into meaningful growth of the bio-industry. Company presentations were bullish generally, and numerous firms mentioned a desire to pursue takeovers this year to help add new products and bolster their R&D pipelines. Meetings with the major pharma/device companies were plentiful. Their value lies in relationship building for the longer term, as much as attempts for near-term deal flow.

Several themes emerged from JPM this year. Large health care companies want seemingly to engage with early stage biotech/pharma and device companies. They?re looking for new business models of innovation. Crowdfunding in biotech is gaining momentum (I spoke to Poliwogg?s Greg Simon and his newest advisor, Dennis Purcell of Aisling Capital).

An increasing number of VC firms are raising, or planning to raise, new funds in 2014. Whether they?ll succeed and if so, how much will be raised, remains to be proved. IPOs are on a tear for early 2014 with over a dozen lined up to initiate their roadshows. But there was a lot of apprehension in the air about how many will succeed and what it will mean for the larger investment environment. RNA therapy, drugs to treat NASH, immune-oncologics, anti-virals, emerging markets for medical devices, and value-based healthcare captured a lot of speech and attention.

I represented nine MichBio member companies at JPM and sought meetings with potential business and investment partners. The evenings were filled with multiple receptions (well over 30 to get invited to) including notable ones hosted by Burrill & Company, Michael Milken?s Faster Cures Institute, SR One (GSK?s venture arm), UK Trade & Investment and Scotland (offering a full range of whiskeys), and Wilson Sonsoni. In addition to JPM, I juggled OneMed Forum and Biotech Showcase where I was a cheerleader for several Michigan companies – Soccorro Medical, Synthetic Biologics, Monteris Medical, Tetra Discovery ? that made their pitches to investors and other attendees. Many others from Michigan were in San Francisco too ? all doing the same thing ? networking, partnering, making connections and seeking investment. The 75�F weather was a bonus, but the miles clocked running around, along with the sore feet and hips, made for long days. Nonetheless, a very satisfying and rewarding trip ? none like it anywhere else.

While I was having fun, David and Wendy continued to prepare for the release of our new website and spent time strategizing about what and how to deliver existing and contemplated programs.

So 2014 begins with MichBio working hard on new features, programs and services like MichBio U (see article below). Stay tuned in the coming weeks and months as we unveil our endeavors.

Stephen Rapundalo, President & CEO of MichBio. You can email Stephen at [email protected].