Healthcare companies are balancing strategic planning with staying agile as they prepare their IR programs for 2025, according to panelists on a recent IR Magazine Webinar, held in partnership with Gilmartin Group.
The discussion, featuring IR professionals and consultants from the healthcare sector, covered the outlook for investment sentiment, advice for managing the sell side, dealing with election uncertainty and much more.
Click here to watch the free, on-demand webinar.
‘Broadly speaking, we try to plan strategically by the year, and then [we are] a bit more [tactical] by the half-year,’ said Susie Lisa, senior vice president of IR at Vertex Pharmaceuticals.
The IR program is closely aligned with ‘business and pipeline catalysts, other development milestones, key medical meetings… [and] the practical matters of C-suite calendar availability,’ she added.
At the same time, Vertex always builds in flexibility for one-off meetings. ‘Whenever someone offers to come on site and visit us, if it’s warranted, we really try to meet that request, because it is such an efficient use of C-suite time, and it also gives investors a better feel for the company’s culture and the overall way we operate,’ explained Lisa.
Lynn Pieper Lewis, founder & CEO at Gilmartin Group, the IR and communications consultancy focused on the healthcare sector, said her clients are already ‘well on their way’ in terms of preparing their messaging for next year.
‘[We are] looking ahead to broad strategic goals we’re going to message in 2025 – thinking about when we’ll do that, whether it be at a conference in early January, on the Q4 earnings call or later at an analyst or investor meeting,’ she said. ‘We’re mapping that out now and really thinking through the cadence and evolution of that message.’
Lewis noted that tactical elements of 2025 IR plans, such as deciding which conferences and roadshows to attend and where management will fit into different events, tend to get firmed up at a later date
She also concurred with Lisa on the importance of staying agile: ‘We can’t over-schedule so much that there’s no ability to react and respond to inbound interest or other opportunities that come up.’
As healthcare IROs organize their messaging and calendar for next year, they must deal with the uncertainty caused by the upcoming US presidential election. On the webinar, panelists discussed the high number of investor questions they are getting on this area and the best way to handle those conversations.
Zack Sopcak, senior vice president of IR at UnitedHealth Group, said he could ‘probably schedule 30 calls a week’ covering different outcomes. ‘There’s a lot of digging going into how hedge funds, in particular, want to position for the election,’ he said.
Sopcak suggested companies treat all requests politely but try to move the conversation to their own key messages. ‘Help [investors] understand what the story of your company is and that you’re likely built to grow no matter who’s in power in the presidency or the houses of Congress,’ he said.
Watch the free webinar here: How healthcare companies can build an effective IR strategy for 2025.
