It’s the most wonderful time of the year for biotech and the broader life sciences industry — the J.P. Morgan (JPM) Healthcare Conference 2025 is just around the corner. Once again, I’ll be trekking out to the San Francisco Bay Area and engaging in conference festivities to connect with clients and journalists, spark inspiration through meaningful conversations, and, most importantly, get a “gut check” on our dynamic industry.
As we gear up for this important moment in biotech, here’s five key areas I’ll be watching and questioning during JPM 2025:
(1) What Impact Will the Trump Administration Have On Biotech?
With President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration just days after the conference, his administration’s potential effect on the life sciences sector will undoubtedly be a hot topic at JPM 2025. I’ll be keeping a close eye on discussions around key public health agency appointments, the U.S.-China drug supply chain, healthcare reform and transparency, and, of course, drug pricing. Most importantly, I’ll be interested in hearing how industry leaders and stakeholders will respond to these challenges and opportunities.
(2) Are We Seeing a Shift in Funding and Economic Headwinds?
At JPM 2024, I previously covered how the macroeconomic climate was creating headwinds for drug developers, with attendees expressing cautious optimism about the industry’s resilience. Now, a year later, we’ve seen promising early signs of recovery in biotech and life sciences. But is this trend enough to give us a much-needed tailwind? I’m eager to hear whether perceptions have changed and how this might influence funding and M&A activity in 2025.
(3) Will the AI Momentum Continue at the Same Pace?
AI’s potential in biotech and healthcare stole the spotlight at last year’s JPM conference. Since then, we’ve seen exciting developments, with new AI startups securing significant investments. However, the initial hype has tempered in recent months, partly due to underwhelming early trial readouts. That said, it’s still very early, and I’ll be exploring whether the industry is in the trough of the Gartner Hype Cycle for AI … or if the best is yet to come.
(4) Will Innovative Therapies Have a “Comeback Kid” Moment?
The year 2024 proved to be a challenging round for more cutting-edge medicines, including gene therapies, genome editing, cell therapies, bioprinting, and in vivo CAR-T technologies. While these groundbreaking treatments hold immense promise for addressing historically intractable diseases, they’ve struggled to attract investment as focus has shifted to more established late-stage assets. Will 2025 mark a turning point for risk-taking in this space?
(5) Have We Entered the Era of GLP 2.0?
GLP-1 weight-loss drugs have been a game changer for pharma, with impressive revenue figures making headlines. Over the past year, this drug class has seen rapid advancements in applications, formulations, and intriguing drug combinations targeting conditions such as sleep apnea, addiction, liver diseases, blood clots, and even dementia. I’m curious to see how the GLP story evolves, and whether it can address concerns around established side effects such as gastrointestinal issues and muscle mass loss.
JPM 2025 promises to be an exciting event for the biotech and life sciences industry. I look forward to connecting with attendees and diving deep into these critical topics. Be sure to stay tuned post-JPM for HDMZ’s insights into these questions and beyond.
About the author
John Kang is the Senior Vice President of Public Relations at HDMZ, leveraging his extensive expertise in communications and the life sciences to lead corporate communications strategies for prominent biotech and life science organizations across domestic and international markets.
