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Editor’s Note: This deep dive was originally published January 28, 2025, as a special edition of Biopharm Executive.Subscribeto Biopharm Executive to receive market insights, deals, business stories and deep dives into key policy issues impacting biopharma.
A fewkey themes quickly emergedat the conference: China innovation, neuroscience, the return of early-stage science and, most prominently, alack of major M&Ato kick off the conference. That big buyout never materialized, forcing conference goers to think outside of the traditional success markers for the industry’s biggest meeting of the year.
Below, we recap our J.P. Morgan coverage.
It’s a good time to do vaccine BD and M&A.
Sanofi’s CEO Keen To Buy the Dip as Vaccine Rhetoric Impacts Short-Term SalesBuying vaccine biotech Dynavax was an easy choice for Sanofi despite anti-vaccine moves by the Trump administration.
At JPM26, Experts Try To Look Past the Most Favored Nation ‘Distraction’Former European Trade Commissioner Phil Hogan and former U.S. Senator Richard Burr, speaking on a panel at the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference, pushed to see a larger picture beyond the Trump administration’s year of chaos and confusion.
Beam, Cabaletta, More Zero In on Regulatory Alignment After Tumultuous YearAs biotechs faced investors at the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference this week, they emphasized agreement with the FDA on clinical trial design and regulatory pathways to approval. Atara, meanwhile, lamented the agency’s “complete reversal of position” after its therapy for a rare surgical complication was rejected.
Verizon Outage Unites Directionless Conference GoersIt doesn’t matter how many times you have traversed Union Square; no one knows which way is north, or where The Westin is in relation to the Ritz Carlton. A Verizon outage brought that into focus on Wednesday of JPM week.
It’s no surprise that obesity proved to be a major topic at J.P. Morgan. But the conversation has shifted to how the next wave of treatments can differentiate and whether investors are still interested as prices for the therapies come down dramatically.
Eli LillyandNovo Nordiskwere, of course, the most highly anticipated companies in the obesity game to speak at the Westin. BioSpace later met up with Novo’s BD team to talk more about where the Danish company issearching for dealsafter putting the failed attempt to buy Metsera in the rearview.
And of course, Pfizer spent its JPM presentationtouting that Metsera dealand outlining plans to fast-track the highly prized pipeline of obesity therapies.
Over at Novartis, BD Chief Ronny Gal told BioSpace thatthey have no FOMOabout not having a GLP-1 or weight loss portfolio.
Women and allies dressed in pink gathered in Union Square at the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference in January as a show of support for greater leadership representation in biopharma. The meet up was organized by the Biotech CEO Sisterhood and Breaking 7%.
@JessFoto
Filling C-Suites, Union Square—and Elevators—With PinkAttendance at the Biotech CEO Sisterhood’s annual photo of women leaders and allies in Union Square doubled this year. There’s still more work to do.