#JPM16 Roundup: What you need to know on Pfizer, Sanofi and more

SAN FRANCISCO--On Monday, we brought you the lowdown from the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference, with company presentations from pharma giants including Novartis ($NVS) and Merck & Co. ($MRK).

Today, we're back with our latest roundup, big names and not-so-big.

  • How's the Allergan ($AGN) tie-up going over at Pfizer ($PFE)? According to Allergan CEO Brent Saunders, so far, the two companies are finding "more commonalities than there are differences." While Allergan is a smaller company, Pfizer runs itself in units to help keep it agile, CEO Ian Read explained, noting that "we want to evolve, we want to be fast, we want to trust each other." Plus, the two share the same values, among which are "no jerks allowed," he said. And what constitutes a jerk in Read's book? "It's like pornography--you know it when you see it."

  • When Sanofi ($SNY) laid out its long-term growth roadmap back in November, it pledged to build a competitive position in multiple sclerosis. Tuesday, new CEO Olivier Brandicourt outlined that goal, putting up a sales target of €2 billion--double 2015's haul--by 2020. To do that, the French drugmaker will be finalizing the launches of its two contenders, Aubagio and Lemtrada, and doing what it can to widen their reach--including developing a subcutaneous version of Lemtrada and starting a proof-of-concept study in progressive MS later this year.

  • GlaxoSmithKline ($GSK) CEO Andrew Witty is sick of people harping on the failings of his company's new, incentive-free commercial model. As he told investors, the same model applies to the sales force marketing GSK's surging HIV drugs and the one responsible for its struggling respiratory products. All of the recent success in HIV has been achieved using the new parameters, which he thinks "starts to dismiss some of the anxieties" critics have about a loss of competitiveness. "I just don't think the evidence really supports that," he said.

  • Mylan CEO Heather Bresch

    Mylan ($MYL) may have been shot down by deal target Perrigo ($PRGO) back in November, but don't expect a long hiatus before it goes back to the dealmaking table. As CEO Heather Bresch reminded investors, after the generics giant's deal for Abbott's ($ABT) established products early last year, "we said we'd be very active, and I think you saw us get very quickly." So going forward? Assume Mylan will "maintain that activity level," she said. "I wouldn't assume there would be a gap."

Want more JPM? For an in-depth look at Pfizer's Allergan cost-cutting, GlaxoSmithKline's ($GSK) spinoff plans and Shire's ($SHPG) synergy targets, check out our other coverage here, here and here. And in case you missed it yesterday, here's our recap from the first day of the action.