이 기사는 2019년 11월 22일 08시00분 thebell에 표출된 기사입니다

The annual JP Morgan Healthcare Conference, the largest healthcare investment symposium in the world, will be held early next year. Market is paying keen attention to newcomers to the event.

The JP Morgan Healthcare Conference has grown into a global event with more than 9000 attendees and more than 450 private and public companies. The conference began in 1983 and next year will mark its 38th event. Unlike BIO International Convention which takes place in June every year, the JP Morgan Health Conference is an investor meeting-oriented event. As the event is held in January every year, the conference is viewed as the event that presents most up-do-date information and promising companies of the entire healthcare landscape of the year.

The 38th JP Morgan Healthcare Conference will take place from January 13 to 16, 2020 at Westin St. Francis Hotel San Francisco, California. Detailed schedule and program of the event haven't been released yet. Microsoft co-founder, former CEO and current co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Bill Gates gave a speech at this year's conference.

Unlike other healthcare conferences, the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference is for clients of the firm, by invitation only. Among domestic biotech firms, Green Cross attended the event for the first time in 2011. The total number of domestic attendees rose from 21 firms in 2016 to 50 firms this year.

Samsung Biologics, Celltrion, LG Chem Life Sciences Company, Hanmi Pharm, Daewoong Pharmaceutical, Medytox, Hugel, Genexine, SCM Lifescience, and ABL Bio reportedly received official invitations for the next year's conference. Samsung Biologics and Celltrion, which have participated in the event since 2012 will present their business plans. It is not yet known whether Celltrion Chairman Seo Jung-jin will deliver a presentation himself next year.

SCM Lifescience, led by former Green Cross president Rhee Byung-geon, is likely to focus on one-on-one meetings instead of presentations. Helixmith and Kolon TissueGene which attended this year's conference are not on the next year's attendee list. A cell-based biotechnology company Biosolution will continue discussion with investors at the event regarding clinical trials on osteoarthritis cell therapy CartiLife.

"As the event will gather all investors from every corner of the world, it is crucial to form partnerships with a variety of companies," said a biotechnology company official.

(By reporter Min Kyung-moon)