On the 12th, local time, the 44th JP Morgan Healthcare Conference (JPMHC 2026) kicked off in San Francisco. The event is the world's largest pharmaceutical and biotech investment gathering and has served as a barometer for the direction of the pharmaceutical and biotech industry.
According to JP Morgan, the number of official attendees this year tops 9,000. With businesspeople and investors from around the world taking part in large numbers, the event is seen as a venue where big deals such as strategic partnerships and investments come together.
The Westin St. Francis hotel, where the opening ceremony was held, was packed with participants from around the world starting at 7 a.m.
Jeremy Meilman, global co-head of the JP Morgan healthcare investment banking institutional sector, said in his opening remarks that the explosive growth in the healthcare market that began in the second half of 2025 will accelerate throughout 2026.
Meilman said the stature of the healthcare industry in the global economy has grown overwhelming. He said the conference, which began in 1983 with just 21 corporations participating, has grown to 525 participating corporations this year, adding that official attendees number more than 9,000 and more than 12,000 one-on-one meetings among investors have been booked. He said the combined market capitalization of participating corporations, which was only $4 billion (5.86 trillion won) in 1983, is approaching $10 trillion (about 1,460 trillion won) this year, noting it shows the hottest investment fervor since the pandemic.
Meilman said the rebound in 2025 has continued. He said the S&P Biotechnology Select Industry Index (XBI), which struggled with an 8% drop through the first half of last year, surged 47% in the second half alone, far outpacing the S&P 500's 16% annual gain.
According to him, equity capital markets (ECM) issuance in the second half of 2025 jumped 70% year over year, and mergers and acquisitions (M&A) transaction volume surged more than 100%. Mega-deals over $5 billion (about 7.33 trillion won) numbered just four in 2024, but 16 were completed in the second half of 2025 alone, which he said demonstrated market liquidity.
The momentum has carried into early this year. Meilman said last week was the busiest first week of January in the past 10 years, adding that more than $3 billion (about 4.41 trillion won) in equity issuance and the year's first initial public offering (IPO) have already been completed successfully.
Interest rates, mergers and acquisitions (M&A) to address patent expirations, and artificial intelligence (AI) have emerged as the key words that will drive growth in the healthcare industry this year.
Meilman projected that if the Federal Reserve's current 3.6% rate is cut by an additional 150 basis points (1.5 percentage points) in line with market expectations this year, the market will gain more momentum. He added that large pharmaceutical companies facing patent cliffs will pursue aggressive acquisitions for growth, and that high-quality corporations that froze in 2025 will mature in the market and pour out in large numbers through IPOs.
He said AI's disruptive innovation is leading the healthcare services and technology space, and both strategic and financial investors are highly active. He also projected that medical devices (MedTech) have successfully overcome China tariffs and supply chain issues and that M&A will pick up on the back of financial soundness.
Presenting corporate valuation data, Meilman said it is clear that high-growth corporations command a premium while low-growth corporations receive a discount, and the larger the corporation, the higher the valuation it receives. He said the trend of cash-rich corporations using M&A as a core tool for growth will be the dominant theme of 2026.
From today through the 15th, local time, the four-day event will feature global big pharma and biotech companies such as Merck, Pfizer, Eli Lilly and Company, and Novo Nordisk, which will present outlooks including next year's business plans and mid- to long-term R&D strategies.
Korean corporations will take the stage for official presentations on the 13th and 14th, local time. Five companies—Samsung Biologics, Celltrion, Alteogen, D&D Pharmatech, and Hugel, Inc.—will be invited to the official presentation stage.
Many also attend the event by invitation without a separate presentation slot, or hold business meetings around San Francisco during the conference. Representatives and staff from numerous corporations, including Hanmi Pharmaceutical, Yuhan Corporation, Samsung Bioepis Holdings, SK Biopharmaceuticals, Lotte Biologics, ABL Bio, LigaChem Biosciences, Aimed Bio, Rznomics, and CLASSYS, took part.