‘JPM 2026’ certainly felt different to recent editions of the conference. The sky was blue – and the XBI had nearly doubled over the previous nine months.
There’s nothing like a little winter sun and booming stocks to put a spring in an executive’s step!
But questions over the robustness of the biopharma sector remain – to be expected after the false dawns of the last few years, not to mention continued global turbulence. And the surprising absence of big deals announced in San Francisco left some puzzled.
DDW spoke to a range of biotechs and investors who attended the enormous event to get their take on the mood, highlight key deals and sessions, and quiz them on how they see 2026 developing.
“The weather was sunny but still cool, and accordingly, the tone in San Francisco largely validated the pre-JPM optimism – even though few big deals were announced,” said Karl Naegler, Partner in Sofinnova’s Capital Strategy team.
“Compared with 2025, when uncertainty around regulation, pricing, and IPO markets weighed on conversations, this year felt more settled.”
He went on: “A recovered XBI outperforming key indices, strong follow-on activity, early signs of an IPO window opening and robust $1billion+ M&A in 2025 all created a more constructive backdrop.” Correspondingly, “in discussions with corporates, we saw broad interest in earlier-stage projects and enabling technologies” – exactly what many younger biotechs want to hear.
Jane Rhodes, CEO of London-based AstronauTx, which is developing therapeutics to treat Alzheimer’s disease and other neurological disorders by improving sleep architecture, put it succinctly: “This JPM was energised, infused with a sense of optimism because biotech feels buoyant again.”
Olav Hellebø, board member of Oncoinvent, and Chair of Copenhagen’s Blue Cell Therapeutics, which is developing allogeneic cell therapies for erectile dysfunction and pulmonary arterial hypertension, said: “Sunshine at JPM is usually a good signal. Last year the rain stayed away – after years of misery – and 2025 marked the beginning of the turnaround. This year the sunshine was persistent and the meeting activity on Union Square was going strong.”
The positive trends “will continue” throughout 2026, he predicted, with a virtuous circle driven by more general investors returning to biotech, more M&A and better returns for venture capital firms, he said. There would be more IPOs than recent years, “but not a flood”.
Marjorie Sidhoum, VP of Business Development and Corporate Communications at Kainova Therapeutics, a clinical-stage developer of GPCR-modulating therapies in immuno-oncology and inflammation, said this year felt more grounded than last. “Optimism was real but more selective than last year,” she said. “The dominant narrative wasn’t hype; it was credibility.”
William Newsome III, CEO of Fibrocor Therapeutics, which is developing first-in-class therapies for kidney diseases, with a strong focus on Alport Syndrome, said: “The public markets are thawing and we anticipate stronger M&A activity in 2026. There is stronger interest for early-stage pipelines that are crucial for driving innovation for the next wave of therapeutics.”
Jeremy Skillington, CEO of AIM-listed Poolbeg Pharma, said it was “definitely more up-beat …. a lot has changed over the last 12 months”.
What JPM 2026 lacked, though, was the announcement of any $10billion+ mega-deals. In this regard, the year’s main biopharma investment event lacked a main event.
“The most significant point on deals was the lack of deals announced,” remarked Dr Neil Murray of Liverpool-based ReNewVax, which is developing a vaccine to protect against all known serotypes of pneumococcal bacteria.
“It will be interesting to see whether the lack of deals is simply an evolution of JPM as a conference, or a true hiatus in dealmaking,” he added.
Perhaps the conference was becoming less an opportunity to shout about big deals that were obviously completed before everyone flew in, and more a chance to actually hammer things out face-to-face, hypothesised some delegates.
To be fair, there were deals announced – and noteworthy ones at that.
Several highlighted AbbVie’s licensing deal with RemeGen to develop the latter’s novel bispecific antibody RC148, designed to target both PD-1 and VEGF.
Worth up to $5.6 billion, the deal “underscores rising appetite for next-generation oncology assets” said Elizabeth Holt, CBO of iOnctura, which is developing small molecule drugs for neglected and hard-to-treat cancers. The agreement was indicative of “a competitive push for differentiated late-stage oncology platforms in 2026,” she argued.
Jacob Falck Hansen, CEO of Vesper Bio, which is developing sortilin inhibitors to treat neurological diseases, who namechecked the same deal as being particularly significant, believed that “fewer mega-deals and more creative dealmaking” were likely to be features of 2026.
He also predicted “more IPOs” and, more generally, believed “the influence of AI and China” would “remain on many people’s radars”.
Hansen had an interesting take on the impact of seemingly constant regulatory and political uncertainties Stateside, saying the fact these have “(unfortunately) become everyday news” meant they were now “less of a limiting factor when doing a deal”. Turbulence, you might say, has become the new normal.
On the subject of IPOs, Aktis Oncology’s upsized IPO was “a notable event of JPM week,” said Dr Adi Hoess, CEO of ViaNautis Bio, which is hoping to redefine the delivery of cell and genetic medicines with its modular, single-polymer ‘polyNaut’ nanovesicles. Aktis raised $318 million with the placing, which was anchored by Lilly. It demonstrated how IPOs of early clinical-stage biotechs were now possible, if firms had differentiated technology and products and were backed with strong support from existing investors and corporate VCs, he added.
Lilly’s $1 billion collaboration with NVIDIA, which “positions AI-native infrastructure as a core pillar of modern discovery”, was another stand-out deal of the week, said Sofinnova’s Naegler. It highlighted what he said was one of three key themes for 2026, “AI moving centre stage”.
His other two themes were the “continued momentum” of GLP-1 based drugs, to tackle both obesity and other conditions, and the “anchor” of precision oncology – with ADCs, bispecifics and radiopharmaceuticals being the hottest cancer-fighting modalities in that zone.
The main draw of JPM’s conference, like its European sibling run by Jefferies, is the chance to meet people. The main draw is that ‘who’s who’ in biopharma descends on one place for one week. Consequently, many delegates didn’t recall a favourite presentation or formal session.
However, Hellebø namechecked the WuXi Global Forum, one of the satellite events around JPM, describing it as “excellent”.
“Most panel discussions are predictable and underprepared,” said the straight-talking Norwegian. “Not so for WuXi. It had great discussions that were clearly well thought through beforehand.”
Kainova’s CSO Stephan Schann mentioned sessions on AI drug discovery, with much of the discussion in these events centring on examples which illustrated how the technology was moving “from promise to measurable impact, where these approaches can complement rigorous biological insight”.
Hoess of ViaNautis noted “major indications such as I&I, weight loss and CNS are of great interest to investors”. He continued: “They also value companies with an experienced management team driving execution of preclinical and clinical plans, with excellent knowledge of regulatory matters.”
Meanwhile, Poolbeg’s Skillington said China was another big theme that came up in sessions time and again, with “the emergence of Chinese biotechs sealing significant deals with ‘western’ pharma companies”.
“The combination of clearly innovative products, rapid and cost-effective development underpinned by high quality data will ensure pharma will continue to look east for programmes to add to their pipeline,” he commented.
And Michael Lahn, CMO of iOnctura, said: “There were several sessions which showed exciting new developments which promise to change the course of cancer in patients. While next-generation ADCs continue to attract interest, the rise in the number of KRAS inhibitors in clinical investigations show progress in precision oncology approaches.”
His colleague Steve Sciuto, iOnctura’s CFO, said: “We expect continued momentum in late-stage oncology dealmaking … with rising China-origin licensing and disciplined M&A to fill pipeline gaps.”
In terms of trends and predictions for the year ahead, in 2026 potential partners and investors are demanding a laser focus on delivery – walking the walk, rather than talking the talk – delegates said.
For instance, Amir Hefni, CEO of the UK’s Resolution Therapeutics, a clinical-stage cell therapy company developing Regenerative Macrophage Therapy for end-stage liver disease, noted “an emphasis on clinical execution”.
Catherine Pickering, CEO of iOnctura, said 2026 would be a year that rewarded “confident execution”, with “investors leaning into high value, clinically-validated assets”.
And Jean-Marie Cuillerot, CMO of Kainova Therapeutics, said the market today was “prioritising well-designed clinical strategies, more biology-driven combinations, and smarter trial designs”.
He explained: “Earlier integration of translational biomarkers, sharper patient selection, and clear proof-of-mechanism will remain essential.”
Hefni said companies that could show they were mastering the challenges presented to them – such as manufacturing and scalability in the cell therapy space – and also had strong clinical data, “will be well positioned”.
He said 2026 would be “an exciting year” for Resolution, which has interim data on its Phase I/II EMERALD trial of its engineered macrophage therapy RTX001 due in August.
Sofinnova’s Naegler concluded: “JPM 2026 has set the tone for a year that appears fundamentally stronger than 2025. Financing conditions are improving, strategics are more active, and pivotal read-outs across multiple modalities are creating a favourable set of catalysts.
“While political and pricing uncertainty may introduce volatility later in the year, the industry set-up for 2026 looks markedly healthier.”
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