By Daniel Garner, Business Development Manager
Every year, JPM Week carries a distinct energy, the kind that makes San Francisco feel like the center of the biotech universe, if only for a few days. This year was no exception.
After more than five years of attending Biotech Showcase and JPM Week, I’ve learned that the real value isn’t found in any single headline. The value comes from pattern recognition built over time, seeing what’s genuinely shifting, what’s holding steady, and what’s quietly rising to the surface across dozens of conversations. This year, a few themes stood out.
Rare disease progress feels personal, urgent, and real
The most meaningful moment of my time in San Francisco was a meeting with Julia Vitarello, CEO of EveryONE Medicines and a client of Lovelace Biomedical. Earlier that day, her team had dosed their first patient with a personalized treatment for an ultra-rare disease using the antisense oligomer tested at Lovelace.
That moment cut through the noise and was a stark reminder to me why the work we do matters.
The Economist recently highlighted EveryONE Medicines for treatment of this teenage patient and their ultra-rare condition—calling it a medical milestone and underscoring what it takes to develop a bespoke therapy for a single patient. Lovelace is proud to serve as a development partner on the work behind that milestone and to see the continued progress EveryONE is making.
Throughout the week, the same reality kept resurfacing: rare and ultra-rare diseases don’t fit neatly into traditional drug development models. When patient populations are counted in the dozens—or even one—it raises difficult questions around timelines, evidence requirements, and how the ecosystem can responsibly support faster paths forward.
What is encouraging is the growing momentum to push both innovation and regulatory thinking into new territory.
AI is everywhere—and so is the reality check
Nearly every meeting included an AI component somewhere in the narrative—whether in target discovery, workflow optimization, or helping teams make sense of increasingly complex datasets.
Alongside optimism, there was a steady dose of realism from people who’ve seen technology waves come and go. Biology remains deeply complex, and not everything becomes predictable simply because we can build a computer model.
For example, there is continued discussion around using AI to reduce—or even replace—traditional toxicology work. In principle, the goal is compelling. In practice, many acknowledge that experimental validation still matters, and that preclinical work will remain essential to many development paths for the foreseeable future.
It’s not whether AI is “overhyped” or “revolutionary.” It’s that we’ve entered a more critical phase—one where claims are being scrutinized more closely, and proof is becoming the true differentiator.
Investment sentiment: cautious optimism, high selectivity
The broader biotech market has faced real challenges, and that context shaped many discussions. There was cautious optimism—less “everything is back,” and more “maybe things are starting to move again.”
There is a sense that IPO paths may become more viable, but only for companies with exceptional data and disciplined execution. M&A continues to be the key driver of momentum.
I attended a BLPN session just after JPM and their reporting was encouraging: an analysist from Byte51 shared that $6.2B of private investment was placed in the month of January 2026. That compares to $7.2B in private investment TOTAL in 2025. If the rest of the year continues in this positive trajectory, we could see significantly increased investment activity across the industry.
I am cautiously optimistic. JPM Week has a way of creating its own expectations. Deal activity doesn’t always match the volume of speculation in the moment, and the environment still feels highly selective. But capital is moving—albeit carefully.
What I’m taking forward
The most useful takeaways are directional rather than definitive, including:
- Rare disease programs continue to push the boundaries of what’s possible, driven by urgency that’s translating into real progress.
- AI is now unavoidable, but the industry appears to be entering a more proof-driven phase.
- The investment environment may be stabilizing, but selectivity remains extremely high.
Yet one constant remains: relationships and collaboration are still the connective tissue that turns conversation into progress.
I’m energized by the momentum—and curious to see how these themes evolve over the next twelve months.