Historically, the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference (JPM) wasn't exactly viewed as the ideal networking event for academic researchers still toiling in labs on discoveries that might, in the distant future, have therapeutic implications. Aspiring newcos rarely had the manpower or resources to compete with established companies for spots on a big biopharma dance card. Even if they did, most couldn't provide enough data to answer the inevitable questions about the differentiated nature of their technology, let alone its therapeutic potential.