For years, the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference (JPM) kicked off with splashy headlines of major M&A activity among biopharma companies, but in 2026, the hype outweighed reality and in the end, no major merger announcements were made during the conference for companies developing therapeutics.
At a pair of panels on developing and selling drugs in Europe at the Biotech Showcase 2026 meeting in San Francisco, experts discussed the good, the bad and the ugly parts of the European drug development scene.
Microbiome specialist Enterobiotix Ltd. is in the throes of raising a new round of funding for a phase IIb trial after reporting positive results from the phase IIa study of EBX-102-02, an oral therapy for irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).
Boston Scientific Corp.'s Farapoint, its latest pulsed field ablation catheter, received U.S. FDA approval for use as an adjunctive device when treating persistent atrial fibrillation that requires cavotricuspid isthmus ablation, CEO Mike Mahoney reported at the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco. The newest member of the popular Farapulse family of PFA catheters provides a focal point option for creation of straight line or focal lesions, complementing the larger, single-shot Farawave catheter that has dominated the PFA market since its U.S. approval in early 2024.
There was an upbeat message for cell and gene therapy companies in the 2026 industry update presented as the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference opened on Monday, with Tim Hunt, CEO of the Alliance for Regenerative Medicine, telling delegates that after lean years of learning, adapting and setbacks, the sector is now self-sustaining.
At the Biotech Showcase 2026 – part of the broader hoopla in San Francisco surrounding the J.P. Morgan 2026 Healthcare Conference – a panel of investors and another of pharma dealmakers discussed what to expect from drug company deals in 2026. The calendar flipping marks a good time to look ahead, but the delineation doesn’t really change anything for dealmakers who have experienced a slow shift in attitudes of investors over the last few months that will likely continue into the year ahead.
Illumina Inc. presented at the J.P. Morgan 2026 Healthcare Conference on Jan. 13 and introduced what it said is the world's largest genome-wide genetic perturbation dataset, being built to accelerate drug discovery through AI across the pharmaceutical ecosystem. This is a move away from its core focus on DNA sequencing technology.
With rumors regarding a couple of potential mega-mergers making the rounds, the week of the annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference kicked off with the official disclosure of some billion-dollar collaborations, leading with Abbvie Inc.’s exclusive licensing deal with Remegen Co. Ltd. for PD-1/VEGF-targeted bispecific antibody RC-148.
Moving away from a one-size-fits-all approach, the U.S. FDA's CBER released details Jan. 11 about how it’s leveraging its growing experience with cell and gene therapies (CGTs) to exercise greater regulatory flexibility in chemical, manufacturing and control requirements for the products.
It was a battle of the companies with drugs for transthyretin-mediated amyloidosis on the first day of the J.P. Morgan 2026 Healthcare Conference with Alnylam Inc., Bridgebio Pharma Inc. and Pfizer Inc. all presenting at the annual kickoff conference. One company disclosed 2025 sales as well as 2026 revenue guidance, the second only looked back, while the third was too big to do either for a specific drug.
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