[2024 JPMHC] K-Bio Investment Briefing Held in the USA "Laying the Foundation for Global Investment"

Despite the 'investment freeze' last year, Korean companies continued to achieve success in technology exports, and a venue to sustain this success was held in the United States.

On the 9th (local time), 'Global IR @JPM 2024' is being held in San Francisco, California, USA.
[Photo by Korea Bio Association]

On the 9th (local time), at the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference (JPMHC), the world's largest pharmaceutical and bio investment event held in San Francisco, California, the Korea Bio Association hosted 'Global IR @JPM 2024,' which served as an opportunity to confirm the potential of the Korean bio industry.

Now in its fourth year, the Global IR @JPM 2024 event gathered about 150 companies and investors and featured panel discussions with multinational investment and legal experts, as well as IR presentations from 10 domestic and international bio startups.

The first panel discussion, titled "Cross-border Investment ? 2024 Investment Outlook," focused on the future prospects of the biohealth industry investment market. Panelists emphasized that "investors from the US and Europe feel more comfortable than ever investing in assets within Asia." Michael Kyung, North America representative of CBC Group, stated, "Compared to the difficulties in fundraising within Korea, Western pharmaceutical companies have taken a strategic approach, leading to a significant increase in license deals by Korean companies," adding, "It is also common that license deals, rather than mergers and acquisitions (M&A), dominate."

In fact, at this JPMHC, companies presenting in the main track on the first morning consecutively mentioned domestic companies in relation to major technology deals or future key assets. Novartis' representative Bas Narasimhan directly cited one of last year's major deals, saying, "We recently announced a partnership with Chong Kun Dang regarding HDAC6 inhibitors." Joaqu?n Duato, J&J's representative, highlighted in the discussion the growth potential of Yuhan Corporation's non-small cell lung cancer treatment 'Reclaza' combined with J&J's anticancer drug 'Rybrevant' as a first-line non-chemotherapy treatment, and mentioned ongoing collaboration with LegoChem Biosciences related to antibody-drug conjugates (ADC). Additionally, Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS) revealed that it had licensed a leukemia treatment candidate from Orum Therapeutics, among other mentions of domestic companies, underscoring the stature of Korea's pharmaceutical and bio industry.

The second discussion, themed "Investment and New Drug Development under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA)," examined changes in the industry and investment environment due to the IRA and discussed new strategic guidelines for drug development. Haewon Min Liao, Vice President of Gilead Sciences, advised, "Despite the impact of the IRA, the benefits of bio-technology innovation must continue to reach humanity," adding, "Manufacturers should closely monitor the differences between federal and state legislation related to the IRA." John Murphy, policy advisor for the US Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO), emphasized, "Regardless of the US presidential election outcome later this year, the situation will not improve," urging, "The industry must raise its voice more strongly in the policy-making process."

In the subsequent corporate IR presentation session, seven domestic and three overseas companies participated. Domestic participants included BasGenBio, VS PharmTech, Vilix, Genome Opinion, GI Innovation, Cha Vaccine Institute, and PBE Immunotherapeutics. Overseas participants included K2B Therapeutics and Actio Bioscience from the US, and Elpis Science from China. The participating companies explained their current product development progress, investment attraction status, and future plans.

During the following Q&A session, domestic investors such as Atinum Investment and Smilegate Investment, along with overseas healthcare investors including Johnson & Johnson (J&J) Innovation, Pfizer Ignite, Novo Holdings, CBD Group, and RM Global, actively provided feedback to each company.

Bio venture companies participating in the event engaged in individual business networking with investors, venture capitalists (VCs), and industry stakeholders, expressing that "it was an important stepping stone opportunity for seeking partnering opportunities and global investment attraction." Hwang Juri, Head of Exchange and Cooperation at the Korea Bio Association, stated, "Having a global perspective from the early stages is key for global expansion," adding, "Through the global healthcare VCs participating in this IR event, companies were given the opportunity to hear new perspectives on the technologies and business directions they have been researching."

This event was co-hosted by the Bio Association along with Sidley Austin and BioCentury, and supported by Nasdaq, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, and BioCom California.