GLP-1s, Brian Thomson killing loom large at JPM Health

San Francisco, famed for its abundance of hoodie-clad tech employees, was overrun by 1000’s of executives in suits this week for JPMorgan‘s annual health-care conference.

Leaders from major health systems, enterprise capital firms and firms across the globe clustered in hotel lobbies to speak business and strategy for 2025. The sunny skies were a welcome reprieve from the downpours of years past, but other absences were harder to disregard.

This yr’s conference, colloquially often called JPM, took place a month after UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was fatally shot in Recent York City. The news was welcomed by Americans with quite a few social media posts expressing resentment toward the health-care industry, with many sharing stories about their negative experiences with insurers. 

Greater than 10 firms, including Cigna and Walgreens, subsequently pulled their appearances at JPM, in response to CNBC’s evaluation of the conference agenda. There was a noticeably large police presence on the conference’s major venue, the Westin St. Francis Hotel, and lots of firms beefed up security at their private events and parties. 

“The subterranean topic that I believe individuals are talking about across the water and the cocktails is clearly what happened to the UnitedHealthcare CEO,” said Wei-Li Shao, president of metabolic health startup Omada. “What does that mean for health-care? What transformation should occur? And the way do things get more responsible?” 

Thompson’s murder was a “stunning, sad event” that has served as a get up call for the health-care industry, said Erik Wexler, CEO of the nonprofit health system Windfall, which is made up of 51 hospitals and 1,000 clinics across seven states.

“Why are we on a separate pathway here? Why are we fighting?” Wexler said. “Our job is to do good for individuals who desperately need us at a very powerful time of their lives, whether you are the payer or you are the hospital.”

While Thompson’s death loomed large over the conference, there was also palpable excitement and buzz about 2025. There was no shortage of discussions in regards to the potential advantages of artificial intelligence and the blockbuster weight reduction drugs called GLP-1s, and investors seem cautiously optimistic that the digital health market could turn a corner.  

“There are such a lot of amazing things on the horizon for health-care,” said Dexcom CEO Kevin Sayer.

“Drug firms and firms like ours, we try real hard to enhance people’s lives, and we make an enormous difference,” said Sayer, who knew Thompson well. “Be a bit of optimistic and provides us a little bit of a break, we’re all attempting to do great things.”

Listed below are CNBC’s big takeaways from JPM 2025:

Generative AI stole the show

Generative AI was undoubtedly health-care’s “it girl” of 2024, and that seems unlikely to vary in 2025. 

Health systems within the U.S. are struggling to contend with burnout, staffing shortages and razor thin margins, so firms are racing to develop AI tools that may streamline among the industry’s more tedious administrative tasks. The topic was practically unimaginable to avoid at JPM. 

For example, health-care payments company Waystar announced a latest generative AI feature that goals to assist doctors quickly fight insurance denials by robotically drafting appeal letters. Amazon Web Services and the enterprise firm General Catalyst announced a latest partnership that goals to hurry up the event and deployment of health-care AI tools. Health-care startup Abridge announced Mayo Clinic will roll out its AI-powered clinical documentation technology to around 2,000 clinicians across your entire enterprise.

“At the very best level, I do not think it will probably be understated how much impact AI is already creating in health-care,” said Dr. Shiv Rao, founder and CEO of Abridge. “A minimum of in our segment, the feedback that we get on a each day basis is just incredible, and the adoption rate demonstrates that it is a real thing.”

Nvidia, which makes the hardware that powers AI applications, was a very popular attendee at JPM this yr. The corporate announced partnerships with several health-care organizations including the clinical research provider IQVIA, neurotech startup Synchron, genomics company Illumina and academic medical center Mayo Clinic. 

“We’re well over a billion dollar business between direct revenue and revenue with our partners,” said Kimberly Powell, Nvidia’s vp of health-care. She added that Nvidia sees more room for growth for AI health-care applications.

Executives are bullish on GLP-1s 

At presentations and cocktail parties this week, CNBC spoke with executives who marveled in regards to the advantages of the booming class of weight reduction drugs often called GLP-1s. 

Novo Nordisk’s and Eli Lilly’s diabetes and obesity treatments have been wildly successful at helping patients drop extra pounds in recent times. A May study found that patients taking Novo’s obesity drug Wegovy maintained a mean of 10% weight reduction for as much as 4 years, for example. 

Research shows that GLP-1s could also help treat cardiometabolic disease, kidney disease and addiction, amongst other conditions. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Lilly’s weight reduction drug Zepbound as a treatment for sleep apnea in December. 

Some analysts estimate that anti-obesity medications could grow right into a $100 billion industry by the tip of the last decade.

“These drugs are remarkable, and they don’t seem to be going away,” Dexcom’s Sayer said. 

Supply shortages are one among the massive hurdles for firms available in the market, as soaring demand has made it difficult for a lot of patients to access the treatments. The drugs typically cost $1,000 per thirty days without insurance, and coverage still varies for a lot of Americans.

Even so, many health-care executives are optimistic that GLP-1s will meaningfully improve public health within the U.S.

“I actually have been joking, it has been the 2 G’s, right? It’s like, GLP, GPT,” Omada CEO Sean Duffy said.

Uncertainty across the Trump administration

Ahead of President-elect Donald Trump’s Monday inauguration, executives at JPM had many unanswered questions on what his administration has in store for the health-care sector. 

Health-care was not an enormous focus for Trump on the campaign trail, which implies his policy goals for the industry are murky. Moreover, he’s made some controversial cabinet picks for the reason that election. 

Trump nominated vaccine skeptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to steer the Department of Health and Human Services, celebrity TV host Dr. Mehmet Oz to steer the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and pancreatic surgeon Dr. Marty Makary to steer the Food and Drug Administration. All three nominees still need Senate confirmation. 

“Until we now have a bit of bit more visibility into this administration that is coming in within the U.S., the market goes to be volatile and somewhat more depressed,” Rebecca Stevenson, HSBC’s head of health-care investment banking for the Americas, told reporters during a roundtable. 

Owen Tripp, the CEO of the virtual care platform Included Health, said the Trump administration appears to be business friendly and has suggested it’s going to push for increased access to care. 

“It isn’t even a lot who’s within the White House, but actually the proven fact that you’ve a Republican Congress and Senate which have on principle aligned with expanding access and transparency,” Tripp said. “I believe you are going to see more transparency on drug pricing and health care pricing too, which can also be hugely positive.”

Watch: UnitedHealthcare tragedy is a wakeup call for corporate America, says Wharton’s Americus Reed