JPM
Fueled by advances in biomarkers, brain mapping, and AI, investment in neuro and CNS innovation shows no signs of slowing, even amid costly setbacks. BioSpace spoke to investors at JPM26 to get their take on recent bets in new therapies and neurotech.
Attendance 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.
After winning a surprise approval for its hereditary angioedema drug Ekterly, KalVista is confident the oral offering will capture the lion’s share of the market for on-demand use.
The obesity market and Most Favored Nation drug pricing were among the topics de jour at the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference last week, while smaller biotechs sought to assure investors that their regulatory ducks are in a row; Novo Nordisk’s oral obesity pill got off to a hot start while the FDA delayed a decision on Eli Lilly’s investigational offering; and SpyGlass Pharma and AgomAb Therapeutics join the 2026 IPO club.
Biohaven has suffered a few setbacks in recent months, including an FDA rejection and a missed $150 million benchmark payment, but CEO Vlad Coric looked for the brighter side at JPM, specifically emphasizing a serendipitous discovery that could get the company in the obesity game.
Henry Gosebruch, who has $3.5 billion in capital to deploy, is thinking broad as he steers the decades-old biotech out of years of turmoil.
As 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.
Following rusfertide’s triumphant Phase III trial last year, Protagonist must decide how involved to be in future development. Hundreds of millions of dollars are on the line.
Speaking on the sidelines of the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference, Novo business development executive Tamara Darsow said the company is gunning for obesity and diabetes assets.
After a cacophony of troubles hit the RNA editing biotech last fall, CEO Ram Aiyar is in San Francisco to develop partnerships, pitch the potential of its new AATD program and find more money to keep the dream alive.