The JP Morgan Healthcare Conference (JPMHC), the world’s largest investment event in the pharmaceutical and biotech industry, will be held in San Francisco, United States, from the 12th to the 15th of this month (local time).

As the total value of technology exports by domestic pharmaceutical and biotech companies exceeded KRW 21 trillion last year, the largest amount on record, Korean biotech companies will also attend the conference in large numbers this year to continue their “technology export rally.”

JPMHC is a large-scale event attended each year by around 1,500 pharmaceutical and biotech companies and about 8,000 participants. At this year’s JPMHC, five companies — Samsung Biologics, Celltrion, Alteogen, D&D Pharmatech, and Hugel — have received official invitations and are scheduled to take the podium.

John Rim, CEO of Samsung Biologics, who will be giving a presentation, is expected to explain “Excellence,” the newly launched contract manufacturing (CMO) brand. Last year, the company completely separated the biosimilar (biopharmaceutical copy drug) business of Samsung Bioepis through a spin-off from Samsung Episholdings. With the conflict-of-interest risk between biosimilars and contract manufacturing now fully eliminated, the company plans to accelerate its global expansion by promoting the new brand.

At Celltrion, CEO Seo Jin-seok, the eldest son of Seo Jung-jin, chairman of the Celltrion Group, will deliver the company’s presentation alone this year. This is the first time that CEO Seo will take the stage without his father, Chairman Seo. The industry views this event as a signal of a full-fledged leadership transition. Having recently begun restructuring itself from a biosimilar company into a new drug development company, Celltrion is expected to focus its presentation this year on its new drug development roadmap.

In the Asia-Pacific (APAC) track, Alteogen, D&D Pharmatech, and Hugel will take the podium.

As this is an investment venue where global pharmaceutical companies gather, many other biotech firms will also attend. An industry official said, “Global companies have recently shown strong interest in Korean biotech companies, whose technological capabilities have improved,” adding, “There are cases where discussions at JPMHC have actually led to technology export deals for Korean biotech companies, so it will be a valuable opportunity.”

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