SAN FRANCISCO – Investor confidence in Exact Sciences Corp. has started to stumble in recent months. The Madison, Wis.-based company’s valuation peaked at about $15.5 billion just a few short weeks after it announced that it would acquire Genomic Health Inc. in late July. Its market cap trajectory has been uneven since and took another hit when the company preannounced 2019 earnings at the J.P. Morgan (JPM) Healthcare Conference, falling to around $13.5 billion.

SAN FRANCISCO – Major genetic research efforts designed to encompass millions of people globally have been setting up their infrastructure in recent years to serve both researchers and patients. This work is being done by major national initiatives, such as All of Us in the U.S. and Genomics England in the U.K., as well as by health care systems such as Intermountain and Kaiser.

SAN FRANCISCO – Insulet Corp. aims to get an FDA approval this year and launch its first interoperable device, the cord-free, wearable insulin device Omnipod Horizon. It is designed to be compatible with the Dexcom G6 and is the result of a partnership between the two companies. In combination, the devices will operate as a closed loop system to automatically adjust insulin dosage over time in response to blood glucose levels.

SAN FRANCISCO – Guardant Health Inc. has set the standard for liquid biopsy. That success has catapulted the Redwood City, Calif.-based company from an IPO in the fall of 2018 to a current valuation in excess of $7 billion. It has made its name – and much of its revenue – with its Guardant360 test, a molecular diagnostic test that assesses 74 cancer-related genes from the circulating tumor DNA to aid in designing the best treatment for advanced cancer patients with solid tumors.

SAN FRANCISCO – Single-cell analytics has the potential to replace all sorts of biology laboratory equipment, expects Pleasanton, Calif.-based 10x Genomics Inc.

SAN FRANCISCO – This was the final presentation for Omar Ishrak at the J.P. Morgan (JPM) Healthcare Conference. He has held the CEO position at Medtronic plc since June 2011. During that period, the Dublin-based company managed to roughly quadruple its valuation to $160 billion from $40 billion – making Ishrak’s tenure clearly a successful one.

SAN FRANCISCO – Dexcom Inc. is working hard to take its business to the next level. Wall Street has been rewarding it heavily, doubling its market cap to about $21 billion since the end of 2018. But investors pulled back a tad on the company’s presentation at the J.P. Morgan (JPM) Healthcare Conference in San Francisco, sending shares down about 4% despite beating analyst expectations.

SAN FRANCISCO – Atop the stage where, just a year ago, he'd detailed the then-new $74 billion acquisition of Celgene Corp, Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. CEO Giovanni Caforio told attendees of this year's J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference he intends to plunge ahead with "the agility and speed of a biotech company."