JPM Week 2027 for Oncology Biotechs: Partnering, Meetings & What to Book

JPM Week 2027 for Oncology Biotechs: Partnering, Meetings & What to Book

Every January, a large share of the biopharma deal community spends one week in San Francisco. For oncology biotechs with immuno-oncology or biomarker-driven assets, and for the CROs, diagnostics and tools companies that serve them, it is the year’s most concentrated stretch of partnering conversations.

The week is anchored by the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference, which in 2027 runs from 11 to 14 January. But most of the useful work happens in meetings that teams arrange for themselves, often weeks in advance. This guide covers how the January San Francisco week works in practice, how to set objectives and build a target list, when to book, what to put in a partnering deck for an IO or biomarker asset, how to follow up, and how to carry the momentum into the February meeting calendar.

Key takeaways

• The main conference in the January San Francisco week is invitation-only. Most biotechs and vendors work the week through meetings they book themselves, so the calendar you build before you arrive decides what you get out of it.
• Set two or three measurable objectives (for example, a number of qualified first meetings with named partner types) before you send a single request.
• Start outreach in November and aim to have most of the calendar confirmed before the December holidays. Senior BD diaries fill early.
• A non-confidential partnering deck for an IO or biomarker asset should answer the patient-selection and companion diagnostic questions up front, not in the appendix.
• Follow up within 48 hours and use the four weeks after January to turn first meetings into second meetings, including at specialist February events such as ImmunoMark Summit San Diego (10–11 February 2027).

How the January partnering week works

The J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference is an invitation-only investor conference held in San Francisco each January; the 2027 edition is scheduled for 11 to 14 January. Invitations are not transferable. Around it, a much larger ecosystem of independently organised meetings, investor events, receptions and private partnering sessions fills the city for the same few days.

In practice, that means the January San Francisco week runs on two tracks:

• The invited programme, where companies present to investors and hold scheduled breakout sessions. Most early-stage oncology biotechs and almost all vendors are not part of it.
• The surrounding meeting economy, where most partnering actually happens: 30-minute meetings in hotel lobbies, rented suites, private dining rooms and nearby offices, plus receptions hosted by banks, law firms, investors and service providers.

You do not need an invitation to get value from the week. You need a clear purpose, a confirmed calendar and a team that can get between meetings in a crowded city centre.

Set objectives before you book anything

The most common mistake is to treat the week as general networking. Senior BD and search-and-evaluation leads see a very high number of companies over a few days, and they remember the ones that came with a specific ask. Decide what a successful week looks like, then build the calendar backwards from that.

Build a target list that reflects real fit

A good target list is ranked by fit and timing, not by company size. Work in three tiers:

• Tier 1 (10–20 companies): partners where you have strong evidence of fit and a known contact. These get personalised outreach and, where possible, a warm introduction.
• Tier 2 (20–40 companies): plausible fit, weaker relationships. Targeted outreach with a short, specific note.
• Tier 3: companies you want to stay visible to. Reach them through receptions, shared contacts and follow-up after the week.

Signals of fit for oncology assets

• Pipeline gaps: a partner with a checkpoint inhibitor backbone looking for combination partners, or a company that has recently exited a mechanism you can replace.
• Recent deals: in-licensing in your modality or tumour type in the last 18 months usually means an active search mandate.
• Trial activity: new registrations on ClinicalTrials.gov in your indication show where companies are investing.
• Biomarker strategy: programmes that use patient selection (PD-L1, TMB, HLA type, ctDNA, spatial or gene-expression signatures) create openings for diagnostics, lab and data partners.

Find the right person, not just the right company

At large pharma companies, first meetings often go through search-and-evaluation or external innovation teams, organised by therapeutic area. A therapeutic area BD lead, a translational medicine head or a biomarker lead can be the better first contact for a diagnostics or tools company. Map two or three names per Tier 1 target so you are not dependent on one diary.

Book meetings weeks ahead

Senior diaries for the January week fill early, often well before the December holidays. A realistic timeline:

Outreach notes should be short: who you are, the asset or service in one line, why this partner specifically, and a proposed time and place. A clear location (for example, a named hotel lobby or your suite) gets more acceptances than “anywhere convenient”.

Prepare a partnering deck for an IO or biomarker asset

A first meeting usually lasts 30 minutes, and the partner may have seen many decks that day. A non-confidential deck of 10–15 slides should let a search-and-evaluation lead decide quickly whether to ask for a confidential follow-up.

What the deck should cover

• The ask: licensing, co-development, research collaboration or financing, stated on the first or second slide.
• Mechanism and differentiation: how the asset differs from approved checkpoint inhibitors and from the competitors in its class, with the comparator data you can share.
• Patient-selection hypothesis: which biomarker defines the responding population, how strong the evidence is, and what assay you would use. Partners increasingly treat this as a core part of the asset, not a later add-on.
• Companion diagnostic plan: whether you expect a companion or complementary diagnostic, the likely platform, and whether a diagnostics partner is already involved.
• Data: preclinical and clinical data that are public or cleared for sharing, with clear labels on sample sizes and follow-up.
• Development plan and IP: the next value-inflection points, timelines and patent position.

For the biomarker and diagnostic slides, our guides on validating an IO biomarker in a clinical trial and structuring pharma–diagnostics co-development partnerships set out the questions experienced partners will ask.

If you are a vendor

CROs, diagnostics labs and tools companies should not bring a capabilities brochure. Bring two or three short case studies relevant to the partner’s modality or indication, a clear view of where you fit in their development plan (for example, central lab testing for a biomarker-selected Phase 2, or spatial profiling for a mechanism-of-action question), and a concrete next step such as a scoping call with their translational team.

Run follow-up like a pipeline

Most of the value of the week is realised in the following month:

• Within 24 hours: log each meeting in your CRM with the contact, what they asked for, and the agreed next step.
• Within 48 hours: send a short follow-up with the material promised, a proposed date for the next conversation and, where relevant, a draft confidentiality agreement.
• Within two weeks: hold second calls with the scientific or translational teams, and open a data room for any partner that has signed a CDA.
• By mid-February: review results against the objectives you set in October. Which tier converted, which messages worked, and which partners need an in-person second meeting?

That last question is where the February calendar matters.

Carry the momentum into February

A general partnering week is good at first meetings across many companies. It is less good at the deeper scientific conversations that move an IO or diagnostics deal forward: translational strategy, biomarker validation, assay choice and trial design. Those need specialists who often do not travel to San Francisco in January.

Specialist meetings in February and March give you a second, more focused round. Use them to:

• Meet the translational, biomarker and clinical leads behind the programmes you discussed in January.
• Book second meetings with Tier 1 and Tier 2 partners in a less crowded setting.
• Test your patient-selection story with diagnostics and pharma experts before a confidential follow-up.

Our biotech conferences guide and oncology conferences calendar list the main meetings across 2027. If you are deciding where to spend sponsorship budget after January, see how to choose biotech conferences to sponsor. And if you are staying on the West Coast, our profile of San Diego oncology biotech companies shows who is building in the region.

Four weeks later: ImmunoMark San Diego, 10–11 Feb 2027

ImmunoMark Summit San Diego is the West Coast launch edition of the series, organised by Convolign Business Consulting, and takes place four weeks after the January San Francisco week. It is an immuno-oncology conference in San Diego for 300+ senior attendees from pharma, biotech, diagnostics and academia, with two parallel streams: Next-Gen Immuno-Oncology and Biomarkers & Companion Diagnostics.

The format suits the second round of partnering. Alongside keynotes, panels and case studies, the summit runs pre-arranged 1:1 meetings and a Day 1 drinks reception. The agenda lists business development, licensing, partnerships and investment leaders, and CROs, CDMOs, technology providers and solution partners among its intended audience, and Day 1 includes a session on “Building Successful Pharma–Biotech–Diagnostic Partnerships to Accelerate Precision Medicine”. At the London 2026 edition, sponsors held 15–25 meetings each, with 200+ meetings across the event.

Register for ImmunoMark San Diego 2027

If your company wants to meet this audience, whether you are a diagnostics, CRO, tools or platform provider, see the San Diego 2027 sponsorship opportunities.

FAQs

When is the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference 2027?

The 2027 J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference is scheduled for 11 to 14 January 2027 in San Francisco. The main conference is by invitation only, and invitations are not transferable.

Can you get value from the January San Francisco week without an invitation?

Yes. Most partnering during the week happens in meetings that companies book themselves, in hotel lobbies, suites and nearby offices, and at receptions hosted by investors, law firms and service providers.

How far ahead should biotechs book January partnering meetings?

Start outreach in November and aim to confirm most meetings before the December holidays. Reconfirm every meeting in the first week of January.

What should a partnering deck for an IO asset include?

The ask, mechanism and differentiation, the patient-selection hypothesis and biomarker evidence, the companion diagnostic plan, shareable data, the development plan and the IP position, in 10–15 non-confidential slides.

Is there an oncology partnering event after January?

Yes. ImmunoMark Summit San Diego on 10–11 February 2027 focuses on immuno-oncology, biomarkers and companion diagnostics, with pre-arranged 1:1 meetings and a Day 1 drinks reception.