[JPM2025] ‘JPM 2025 Korea Night’ colored San Francisco with K-Bio

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. -- By Kim Chan-hyuk/Korea Biomedical Review correspondent -- An evening of networking for the Korean bio-industry unfolded on Wednesday (local time) at The Cube, a community space in San Francisco, Calif., where the 34th Annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference (JPM 2025) is being held.

KoreaBIO, an industry group of biopharma companies, organized the “Korea Night @JPM 2025” event.

With attendees in high spirits for the third day of the conference, the event, open to the first 300 pre-registered attendees, was packed from 6 p.m. with representatives from Korean and international biotech companies, foreign investors, and multinational pharmaceutical companies.

Cocktails in hand, attendees gathered in small groups to discuss the latest global pharma and biotech trends. Within an hour of the event's start, the venue was packed to capacity, with many CEOs of major Korean pharmaceutical and biotech companies and overseas business executives attending the event to show off their familiarity with one another.

“It was impressive to see how each company is trying to take the lead in their specialized technology and expand into other areas,” said Kim Yeol-hong, president of R&D at Yuhan Corp., who attended a partner Johnson & Johnson presentation at the conference. “Bispecific antibodies and TPD (targeted protein degradation) are emerging as new trends,’ he said.

“I had a hectic schedule with back-to-back meetings with various pre-arranged partners,” said Yun Woong-sup, Vice Chairman and CEO of Ildong Pharmaceutical, who also chairs the board of directors at the Korea Pharmaceutical and Bio-Pharma Manufacturers Association. “Looking at the overall conference flow, GLP-1 and ADCs (antibody-drug conjugates) were the main trends, just like last year, and Big Pharma was seen discussing strategies to deal with patent expiry.”

“We were able to gain insights into the direction of the Korean bio-industry in the U.S., the home of the biotech industry,” Dong-A ST CEO Jeong Jae-hoon said. “Each company has its unique strengths, and there are great opportunities if they capitalize on them. Dong-A ST has finalized the acquisition of an ADC company and is pursuing bispecific antibody in-licensing.”

“We received a good response with our differentiated pipeline,” said Choi In-young, head of the R&D Center at Hanmi Pharmaceutical, which introduced its obesity treatment pipeline, including efpeglenatide, at the conference. “We once again confirmed that everyone is interested if you make a good drug.”

“At first, there was a reaction that it was too late, but if you look into the details, you can understand why it is not too late and what our differentiated strategy is,” Choi said, explaining the company’s H.O.P (Hanmi Obesity Pipeline) project. “We are trying innovative approaches that have never been done before by increasing muscle while reducing fat.”

Business development and overseas sales representatives from other Korean pharmaceutical companies, including Daewoong Pharmaceutical and HK inno.N, also attended the event.

“We are holding meetings with partners in 45 countries where ‘K-CAB’ has entered to discuss licensing,” a HK inno.N official said. “We also aim to license out to the remaining countries, so we have met with new partners.

Regarding the competition among Korean P-CAB companies to enter overseas markets, he said, “It is more beneficial to explore the market with other companies.”

The event was also attended by many executives from major Korean biotech companies, including Samsung Biologics President John Rim, SK Biopharmaceuticals CEO Lee Dong-hoon, ABL Bio CEO Lee Sang-hoon, GI Innovation Chairman Rhee Byung-geon, Bridge Biotherapeutics CEO Lee Jung-kue, Oscotec CEO Yoon Tae-young, Orum Therapeutics CEO Lee Seung-joo, and Prestige Biologics Managing Director Yang Jae-young. Lee Seung-gyu, vice chairman of the KoreaBIO, which organized the event, was also present.