SAN FRANCISCO — Many deals in the biopharmaceutical industry often start at the annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare conference. Young biotech companies use this event to network and meet with investors and potential partners who can provide funding and help develop their experimental drugs. This year, these conversations might be more successful for these young companies. A recent report by HSBC Innovation Banking showed that investments in biotech ventures surged in the last quarter of the year to their highest levels in three years. Investors have shifted from being cautious to being more willing to invest, according to Jonathan Norris, a managing director at HSBC and the author of the report. This change in mindset is due to an increase in mergers and acquisitions and renewed hope for initial public offerings, which have slowed down since 2021. In 2025, acquisitions of venture-backed biotechs brought in $64 billion and involved large buyouts of publicly traded companies such as Metsera and Avidity Biosciences. Norris believes this is the boost the industry needs. After several years of management changes, research reorganization, and disappointing earnings, Biogen is trying to convince investors that it has entered a new, more promising era. The company repeatedly mentions ‘New Biogen’ in its presentation at the J.P. Morgan conference. The executive team has been meeting with investors and analysts frequently, and the company’s chief financial officer, Robin Kramer, believes that investor sentiment has improved. Biogen has five experimental drugs in late-stage testing that it believes have significant commercial potential. These include two potential lupus therapies and an immune system-regulating antibody called felzartamab, which is being evaluated for several kidney illnesses. However, Biogen’s recent product launches have not delivered the expected sales growth, and some analysts have described the company’s recent earnings report as ‘fairly unremarkable.’ Kramer argues that the company’s stock price does not fully reflect the potential of its revamped pipeline, which is set to produce five data readouts over the next 18 months. She believes that 2026 will be a crucial year for the company’s transformation. Biogen is not the only company making this argument. Daniel O’Day, the CEO of Gilead Sciences, also believes that 2026 will bring unprecedented opportunities for his company. Gilead has a robust pipeline and estimates that it could have up to 10 new product launches by the end of 2027. However, investors do not seem convinced, as both Biogen and Gilead shares were down in trading. Summit Therapeutics and its partner Akeso are leading the way in developing a new type of cancer drug called PD-1/VEGF inhibitors. However, the competitive landscape has widened, and Summit’s position has become shakier. Recently, AbbVie invested $650 million upfront, with the potential for over $5 billion overall, in a rival PD-1/VEGF drug developed by a Chinese biotech company called RemeGen. This deal has taken another large pharmaceutical company off the table as a potential suitor for Summit and its drug ivonescimab. Summit shares fell significantly on the news. However, Summit’s president and co-CEO Maky Zanganeh argues that the company is still ahead of the pack with a differentiated drug that has succeeded in multiple trials and is approved in China. The company has collaborations with other major pharmaceutical companies and is optimistic about the drug’s potential. Merck & Co. CEO Rob Davis says his company is preparing for the loss of market exclusivity for its cancer immunotherapy blockbuster Keytruda. The company has several new drugs in the pipeline, including a preventive influenza medicine called MK-1406, which it acquired when it bought Cidara Therapeutics. The company is also open to more acquisitions if it sees innovative science and a commercial opportunity. For Moderna, 2026 is shaping up to be a crucial year. The company expects to receive regulatory approvals for its influenza and combination COVID-flu vaccines and to report heavily anticipated data for a skin cancer vaccine. The company has also been reducing its operating costs and has impressed investors with its cost-cutting measures. However, Moderna has faced criticism and challenges, including vaccine hesitancy in the U.S. and public health leaders making false claims about its product’s safety and efficacy. Despite these challenges, Moderna has a chance to bounce back and has mapped out a plan to break even financially by 2028. The company’s CEO, Stéphane Bancel, highlighted the importance of the combination COVID-flu shot, which could be the only one on the market. Overall, the biotech industry is seeing hopeful signs at the J.P. Morgan Healthcare conference, with increased investments, mergers and acquisitions, and renewed hope for initial public offerings. However, challenges and uncertainties remain, and companies will need to continue to innovate and adapt to succeed in the ever-changing healthcare landscape.