Korean pharmaceutical and biotech firms are set to participate in the upcoming J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference, the world's largest healthcare conference known for capturing the interest of institutional investors. The event is scheduled to commence in San Francisco, the U.S., from Jan. 8-11.

The conference, which has been held every year since 1983, celebrates its 42nd anniversary this year.

Hosted by global investment bank J.P. Morgan Chase, large global pharmaceutical companies, bio ventures, and investment experts will participate in sharing the results and current status of new drug research and development (R&D) and discuss technology cooperation and licensing.

Samsung Biologics, which has been officially invited by J.P. Morgan for eight consecutive years, will stand in the event's main track for the second year in a row.

The company's CEO John Rim will discuss Samsung Biologics' major achievements in 2023 and outlook for 2024, as well as its mid-to-long-term vision on Jan. 9.

The contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) company, which owns the world's largest biopharmaceutical production capacity of 604,000 liters, is building an additional 180,000-liter plant 5, targeted for completion in April 2025.

This facility, part of the second Bio Campus in Songdo, Incheon, will be joined by a sixth plant by 2027 and seventh and eighth plants, plus a utility center by 2032. Upon completion in 2032, the total capacity of Samsung Biologics, including the two campuses, will increase to 1,324,000 liters.

Samsung Biologics is also making efforts to enhance its competitiveness in new modalities, such as antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs).

Celltrion, a biosimilar maker, will also present in the main track on Jan. 10, and Chairman Seo Jung-jin will take the stage for the first time in four years.

Seo is expected to emphasize the vision of the newly launched integrated Celltrion last month, unveiling this year's business plans, and present future growth strategies towards becoming a multinational pharmaceutical company, aiming to attract investors' attention.

Seo had previously laid out a plan to strengthen business competitiveness and expand the product portfolio to achieve a sales target of 12 trillion won ($9.1 billion) by 2030.

For the short term, Celltrion's sales goal this year is set at 3.5 trillion won, with the company expecting its main biosimilar business to expand to 22 products by 2030.

Cost reduction is also a key strategy for Celltrion. By streamlining business structures through mergers, it plans to reduce the current cost-of-sales ratio, which is at 70 percent, down to 40 percent. This reduction in the cost ratio is aimed at expanding entry into key markets to increase sales and market share.

Lotte Biologics, a latecomer CMO, will present in the Asia Pacific & Latin America (APAC&LatAm) session on Jan. 9, sharing its mid-to-long-term business strategy through the Mega Plant in Songdo, Incheon, and plans for establishing an ADC technology platform.

Additionally, Yuhan Corp., SK biopharmaceuticals, and Kakao Healthcare will also be present in the APAC&LatAm session.

Making its first public presentation at this event, Yuhan will have R&D President Kim Yeol-hong as the speaker, discussing its major pipeline, including Leclaza, the non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) drug undergoing the FDA approval process.

Yuhan is aiming for continuous success as it had previously made headlines by licensing out Leclaza to Janssen worth 1.4 trillion won in 2018.

SK biopharmaceuticals will promote the achievements of its epilepsy drug cenobamate and its mid-to-long-term growth strategy, including its development platforms for targeted protein degradation (TPD), cell and gene therapies (CGT), and radiopharmaceutical therapy (RPT).

Kakao Healthcare, the only digital healthcare company among the presenters at this event, is expected to showcase services such as PASTA, its smartphone-based blood sugar management platform, scheduled for release in February in Korea. 

Hanmi Pharm, SK bioscience, and GI Innovation have also been officially invited for one-on-one meetings with investors.

Additionally, GC Cell, Bridge Biotherapeutics, S.Biomedics, ABL Bio, Kainos Medicine, DX&VX, Syntekabio, Bilix, April Bio, and other Korean biotech companies will also participate in the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference or the concurrently held Biotech Showcase 2024, aiming to strengthen cooperation with global companies.