JPM26: Dealmaking optimism at JPM 2026 despite absence of mega-M&As

GlobalData Healthcare

Fri, January 16, 2026 astatine 10:28 AM CST 3 min read

The J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference held successful San Francisco, California from 12 January to 15 January 2026 saw a cardinal concern taxable centred connected driving worth done interior pipeline prioritisation and billion-dollar licensing agreements, alternatively than the typically expected ample biopharmaceutical mergers and acquisitions (M&A) announcements.

Lower involvement rates and Trump-era deregulation drove momentum successful ample biopharmaceutical M&As successful 2025, with reduced uncertainty astir the interaction of Trump’s tariff policies successful H2 2025 further strengthening superior markets. This has sustained a affirmative sentiment for M&As enactment for 2026 arsenic GlobalData's caller M&A Trends successful Pharma – Q4 2025 study revealed a 59.3% uptick successful full M&A woody worth successful Q4 2025 compared to the Q3 2025, totaling $80.2bn. Furthermore, according to GlobalData's caller Venture Capital Investment Trends In Pharma – Q4 2025 report, a betterment successful biotech task financing was shown with a 35% summation successful Q4 2025 compared to Q3 2025 to a full woody worth of $5bn.

Moreover, the nationalist markets are showing aboriginal signs of reopening, wherever Q4 2025 saw a 157% summation successful IPO woody measurement compared to Q4 2024, according to GlobalData’s Pharma Intelligence Center Deals Database. Aktis Oncology was the archetypal biopharmaceutical IPO completed successful 2026 raising astir $365m. Eikon Therapeutics and Veradermics besides program to spell nationalist successful 2026 with IPOs announced this month.

Prior to the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference 2026, rumors emerged implicit Merck & Co to get Revolution Medicines for $32bn and Eli Lilly to get Abivax for €15bn ($17.5bn) though were not confirmed astatine the conference. Merck &Co’s CEO, Robert Davis, commented during its institution presumption that it is unfastened to deals of “multi tens of billions of dollars”, highlighting an appetite for large-scale biopharmaceutical deal-making.

AbbVie kicked disconnected the league with the announcement of its licensing statement for the development, manufacturing and commercialisation of China-based biotech RemeGen’s Phase II bispecific antibody drug, RC148, for the attraction of precocious coagulated tumours with a woody worth of $5.6bn. Meanwhile, Novartis signed a licensing statement for worldwide licensing and collaboration with China-based institution SciNeuro Pharmaceuticals worthy implicit $1.6bn for SciNeuro’s de novo amyloid beta antibody cause candidates for the attraction of Alzheimer’s disease. Novartis besides entered into a worldwide licence statement for $50m with China-based biotech Zonsen PepLib Biotech, successful speech for planetary rights to an undisclosed peptide-based radioligand therapy for oncology indications.