Are you a JPM newbie? Will JPM 2025, from Jan. 13 – 16, be (or potentially be) your first or second JPM? JPM, short for the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference, is the largest life sciences investment and business development event in the world, attracting an estimated 30K – 40K ecosystem players to San Francisco every January, leaning toward a biotech focus. Let’s be clear: the majority of industry professionals descending on the Bay area do not attend the actual conference, which is an invitation-only event. In fact, the majority of partnering happens in the ecosystem that’s evolved around the conference over the last 40+ years. If someone asks you if you’re “going to JPM”, they are asking if you’ll be running around town taking partnering meetings, not if you’re attending the actual conference. That said, let’s breakdown what happens in the life science gathering that’s blossomed around the conference:

• Pharmas, larger investors, IR firms and larger service providers rent out hotel rooms or ballrooms and convert them into partnering meeting space, where they have BD meetings. Pharma BD meetings at JPM are rumored to be more ‘high level’ than at the major biotech conventions, sometimes featuring the CEO and resulting in new deals. One of the most unique pharma partnering spaces is the Roche/Genentech area in the atrium of the Marriott Marquis, right upstairs from the RESI JPM conference.
• There are three primary partnering conferences that generally require paid registration. Among them is RESI JPM. Though the value propositions of these events have some overlap, they’ve traditionally filled different needs.
  • RESI JPM focused on early-stage companies (discovery to phase 2) and investors (seed to series B), and featured partnering, pitching, panels, workshops and meals.
  • One of the others is focused on somewhat later stage companies (preclinical and later) and investors spanning private to public markets, and also featured partnering, pitching, panels, workshops and meals.
  • The final one is focused on providing easily accessible and flexible partnering meeting space for anyone who needs it, coupled with a partnering system to allow meeting scheduling and outreach.
• There are other niche-specific conferences, mini-conferences, and partnering conferences that are either free or require a small fee (under $100).
• There are numerous evening receptions hosted by a multitude of different companies and organizations. Most of these are free to attend, and some are invite-only.
• There are numerous daytime events, again hosted by a multitude of entities, that are generally free to attend, though some require a nominal fee and some are invite-only. These include athletic events such as ‘fun runs’, networking breakfasts, meet & greets, presentation forums, workshops and more.
• Hotel lobbies, especially those of the major hotels like the Marriott Marquis and Hilton Union Square, get turned into all-day impromptu meeting and gathering forums
• Serendipitous meetings: part of the magic of JPM is downtown San Francisco becomes a place where you are bound to have impromptu meetings with people you literally bump into, from 7am to 1am, or even 2am.

While all this sounds very exciting, you may be scratching your head wondering, as a JPM newbie, “how do I participate in all this”?

• To participate in the partnering meetings that take place all over downtown San Francisco, you must reach out to your potential partners from now until January to arrange the meetings. Remember to leave at least 20 minutes between meetings! If you are looking for investors or licensing partners to meet with, set up a call with us by emailing for some complimentary guidance on those who would be a good it for your company.
• To register for RESI JPM, click here. Register for the other major JPM ecosystem conferences at their respective websites.
• For the rest of the happenings at JPM along with a list of companies presenting at the actual JP Morgan Healthcare Conference, along with details on how to register for the events, whether free or paid, tune into our JPM page, which will go live the beginning of November. It’s worth mentioning that there are a bevy of events on Sunday, so we recommend you arrive Sunday the 12^th morning or afternoon.

Finally, many consider the biggest obstacle about JPM to be the price of hotels, which can be over $1000/night even for hotels normally considered to be inexpensive. If this exceeds your budget, we recommend checking AirBnB or staying at a hotel that’s a few miles away (3 – 4 BART stops). A 20-minute train ride or a 15-minute Uber can save you a thousand dollars a night.

If you’re a JPM beginner, we’re happy to help you on your JPM journey. Contact us at RESI@Lifesciencenation.com.