By Seth Kaufman
As the former CEO of the medical diagnostics giant LabCorp, it makes sense that Dave King is results-focused.
Asked to peer into the future of the healthcare industry at a recent Vanguard forum for health and life sciences leaders, King was skittish about the challenges looming on the horizon – from labor shortages to wage challenges to disruptive health service models. But he was bullish, too – especially about results hailing from a hot-button segment of the medical industry: Vaccines.
“There are so many opportunities in healthcare right now,” King told Vanguard founder Ken Banta, “There’s a whole reinvigoration of vaccines. Vaccines were uninvestable for the last five years. Now suddenly vaccines are going to be very investable, and there’s going to be new vaccines for diseases because of the technology.”
It’s hard to think of upsides to the COVID pandemic, but King says the crisis reinvigorated this potential growth sector. “I don’t know how to describe it, except to say the regulatory environment became so unbelievably efficient during COVID at getting things approved and getting things done. The FDA was approving lab tests and vaccines—and not irresponsibly, but in a rapid fashion with very strong data.”
Read the full transcript, listen to the podcast, or watch the video for more of King’s insights and concerns about healthcare leadership, opportunities and threats.
These thoughts are taken from a dialogue conducted on Nov 17-18, 2021. Participants may have changed companies and/or titles since then.