We’re always delighted to welcome new people into the fold at Evaluate, particularly when they bring a new perspective on a critical part of the life sciences market. Today’s subject of Meet the Team is Brian Bock, Leader of Strategic Broker Partnerships for Norstella. With a resume that features Morgan Stanley and Deutsche Bank, Brian is perfectly placed to support Evaluate’s work with our broker partners. I caught up with Brian to find out what led him to Norstella, how he’d advise biotech leaders to boost their company’s profile, and how watching movies like Die Hard led him to study finance at college.

1. What do you think is going to have the biggest impact on the pharma industry in the next five years?
   I’ll leave AI’s impact for others to comment on – but from my background in finance, the most interesting thing in pharma right now is the massive amount of revenues at the largest companies in pharma fast approaching a patent cliff. Evaluate’s recent World Preview report found that $500bn in revenues are at risk in the next five years. The potential for strategic, fascinating, and massive M&A activity has never been higher. It’ll be exciting to watch how companies approach these situations in the coming years.
2. What’s the biggest challenge facing pharma and biotech companies at the moment?
   I suppose this one is tied to my prior response, in that large pharma and small biotech companies (and especially publicly traded companies) are all facing an environment that is going to force strategic decisions about M&A, licensing deals, partnerships, etc. at an unprecedented speed. There has been a lot of activity this year and I am sure we’ll see more in the coming years.
3. What’s the one piece of advice you would give a biotech CEO?
   Invest time and energy in your relationships with the Equity Research community. Having research coverage is a force multiplier for telling your firm’s story to the institutional investment community. It enables access to attend and present at conferences attended by hedge funds and asset managers who specialize in investing in the industry. In the last 12 months, I have attended several capital markets industry events where buy-side investors said the most highly-valued resource they get from their research providers is Non-Deal Roadshows with CEOs in their offices for 1×1 meetings. Being willing to make those trips with the analysts covering your firm’s stock is one of the highest-value activities a CEO can undertake to help their stock price.
4. How did you end up working in this industry?
   In high school and college, I spent time in the summers and on school breaks working at my aunt and uncle’s custom stereo and home entertainment center business. At night, in addition to receiving an important education in films like Die Hard and Lethal Weapon, we also watched ‘Mad Money’ with Jim Cramer. Cramer’s ‘Lightning Rounds’ were a fast-paced, high-intensity download of market knowledge, with a recommendation about whether to buy or sell a company’s stock. I was hooked. I majored in Finance and started my career at Morgan Stanley after graduating.
5. Other than working for Evaluate (of course!), what’s your career highlight to-date?
   The highlight of my career has been the people I’ve met along the way. I’ve had a rather unique journey so far with a number of different professional opportunities (some by choice, some chosen for me), but all have helped me develop the ‘SME-ness’ I bring to Norstella about capital markets, equity research, and alternative data. I’m grateful that for each job I’ve had prior to Norstella, I can not only describe lessons learned and skills acquired, I can also take out my phone and call or text friends I made there as well.
6. What’s the best thing about your role?
   The best thing about my role is how well supported I am across the business. Our broker partners are so important to Evaluate Pharma and I’m proud to be here to ensure they benefit from the relationship between our firms. From setting up refresher training sessions, access to senior thought leaders to attend a sell-side conference, organizing a content series (coming soon!), or having commercial team members support me at a recent alternative data conference, I’ve been overwhelmed by the amount of support I’ve received here at Norstella.
7. What’s your favorite drink?
   As someone who places great emphasis on the situation I’m in to determine the optimal (i.e. favorite) drink, I resent the mental pretzel this question has caused me! So, I’ll choose to support one of my favorite local breweries, who produce my current favorite beer: Hoptical Illusion by Bluepoint Brewery on Long Island.