The European healthcare sector, including specialty pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, medical technology and diagnostics companies, has seen increased M&A activity across the sector which we believe has been an important driver of positive sector performance in recent times. As we believe the recognition of value by industry players precedes that of the financial markets we expect to see further growth in share prices in the near future. Of course, fundamental progress in product development and commercialization activities are the source of value creation and we are seeing the device and drug pipelines of many players reaching important value inflection points giving us confidence for a bright future for the sector.

The Healthcare research team comprises three highly trained analysts with many years of experience in the industry itself and the financial markets. With a minimum of more than 10 years of covering publicly listed companies in the sector, our analysts have experienced the ups and downs of the markets, and by virtue of the flexible operational structure at Nomura Code, they can bring the value of this experience to bear for both the listed companies which we advise and for institutional investors looking to optimise their exposure to the sector.

Our analysts’ research coverage includes daily industry updates, regularly updated corporate valuation tables and stats, themed research – regular and periodic, healthcare briefings, ad hoc developments.

Medical Technology and Diagnostics

Michael King – has had over 25 years of experience within medical technology and healthcare, including 12 years within the industry having worked at Amersham International (now GE Healthcare) and Pfizer Hospital Products.  Since 1997 he has worked as an analyst covering a range of life science sectors including pharmaceuticals and biotechnology, but always specialising in medical technology.  His current coverage involves a range of subsectors, including medical devices, surgical instruments, diagnostics, imaging technology, drug delivery, woundcare, life science research products and biotechnology.  During his time in stockbroking he has been involved in numerous public market and private transactions including IPO’s and secondary fund raisings while advising on a range of M&A transactions.  He obtained a BSc in Biochemistry and Physiology from Southampton University and subsequently worked as a development scientist specialising in molecular biology.

Biotechnology and Specialty Pharmaceuticals

Dr Samir Devani – a registered pharmacist by training with a PhD in molecular drug design, Samir has 13 years experience as a healthcare analyst. His primary focus has been on drug development, drug delivery and specialty pharmaceutical companies in Europe, although during his time at JP Morgan he spent a significant amount of time additionally analyzing US companies. His main role has been to provide investment advice on companies in these areas to institutional fund managers.

Dr Gary Waanders  – has been covering the Healthcare sector as an analyst for over 10 years, enabling him to offer a broad experience of the sector and financial markets complemented by a keen ongoing interest in the sciences.  During this time he has been involved in many public market transactions including over 10 IPO’s and numerous secondary fundraisings.  In his research he has covered a range of companies from early stage intellectual property developers to companies with nascent drug discovery platform technologies to more mature and profitable companies with drugs and devices being commercialised.  His academic qualifications include a BSc, a PhD and an MBA.  Following over 6 years of fundamental and clinically-related post-doctoral research at the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research in Lausanne (specialising in T cell Immunology), he moved into an industry role in Canada where he managed research teams looking at experimental drug delivery systems and cancer vaccines.