The 19th Annual JP Morgan H and Q Healthcare Conference provided yet another fascinating opportunity to meet with, and hear presentations by, a number of representatives of wellestablished Big Pharma companies, biotech start-up companies and the healthcare service and healthcare 'dot.com' industries. The conference was hosted by JP Morgan H and Q, part of the newly formed JP Morgan - the wholesale banking group of JP Morgan Chase and Co - which led-managed 13 IPOs in the healthcare industry in 2000. This year, the conference was attended by over 5000 delegates, and in excess of 270 company presentations in six parallel sessions were made to members of the healthcare industries, the media and the investment community.

The Chase H&Q Healthcare Conference is held annually in January and provides an excellent opportunity to obtain an overall impression of the state of the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry. Chase H&Q's flagship Healthcare and Technology conferences have become the primary checkpoints for major growth stock investors to gauge the pulse of entire industry groups as well as particular companies. The 17th Annual Healthcare Conference attracted approximately 235 companies and 3300 total attendees. This year, more than 240 companies from biotechnology, life science, medical products, healthcare service and healthcare internet industries, were presented in five parallel sessions at the 18th Annual Healthcare Conference, which was attended by over 3500 delegates. As the conference was directed primarily at analysts, there was little in the way of reporting of 'grass roots' science. This report focuses on some of the companies who have made great strides during 1999, and for whom 2000 looks set to be a challenging and exciting year.

The role of diet composition in the etiology of weight gain and obesity been controversial, and some have held the view that all calories are equal, and that diet composition is of no consequence. The controversy is partly due to shortcomings of observational studies to capture valid intakes of individual’s foods and drinks over periods with weight changes, and the inherited problem in randomized dietary intervention trials to ensure adherence to one particular diet composition for extended periods. However, shortterm studies have clearly shown differential nutrient effects on appetite i.e. hunger, satiety and prospective food consumption. We have developed methods to study spontaneous changes in energy intake and body weight in randomized controlled trials (RCT’s) by allowing subjects to consume different diets ad libitum, but fixed in composition by providing all foods free of charge to the whole family from a university supermarket typically at least once a week to collect food. The composition (e.g. macronutrients, fibre, calcium) and certain characteristics (e.g. glycemic index, food groups, and drinks) are ensured using the bar codes registered at check out. In a series of RCT’s we have found the dietary fat content has a little, but significant effect on energy consumption and body weight, whereas the protein to carbohydrate ratio, and glycemic index of carbohydrates play an important role for spontaneous energy intake. Sugary soft drinks also exert weak satiety effect, and their consumption pose a risk of overconsumption of energy. Since our study using infusion of GLP-1’s in human subjects provided evidence for its role as a satiety hormone, its role in body weight regulation has been substantiated. We have found dose-response related increase in post-prandial GLP-1 and PYY levels lowing by increasing protein to carbohydrate ratio in meals, and have provided evidence for the role of these hormones for the perceived increased satiety produced by protein. In conclusion, diet composition is a determinant of energy intake, and an optimized diet play an important role in the prevention and management of obesity.