Clinical trial results are the key events that make or break a biotechnology company. Positive data can validate a drugmaker’s business plan and boost its stock price, while a disappointing readout can change its course. These crucial findings are often presented and closely analyzed at medical conferences throughout the year — meetings where companies get to showcase the medicines they’ve staked their futures on.
These conferences have different focuses. Some spotlight early research or the final trials that can yield regulatory approvals. Others are temperature takers for the industry’s health, where companies and investors gather to network and cut deals.
Below, BioPharma Dive has collected schedules for the key medical meetings and conferences planned for 2026.
Top medical and industry meetings in 2026
J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference
TBD
San Francisco
Every year, biopharma investors and executives descend on San Francisco’s Union Square to talk deals. With luck, a handful of companies will have new acquisitions or partnerships to announce during the meeting’s first few days — M&A activity that could be a harbinger of what's to come in the year ahead.
BIO Investment & Growth Summit and Investor Conference
Feb. 2-3
Miami
A meeting previously called the CEO and Investor Conference and hosted in New York will be held in Miami Beach under a new name in 2026. Still, the gathering will have an investor focus, with networking opportunities for biotechnology CEOs and their backers.
MDA Clinical & Scientific Conference
March 8-11
Orlando, Florida
Hosted by the Muscular Dystrophy Association, a prominent patient advocacy group, the meeting showcases promising research in neuromuscular disease and brings together industry leaders, physicians and scientists to discuss important clinical trial results and real-world data.
American College of Cardiology Annual Scientific Session
March 28-30
New Orleans
The growing body of evidence showing that GLP-1 medicines can affect a variety of cardiometabolic conditions, and the sheer number of clinical trials underway in obesity, makes ACC a meeting likely to feature presentations that inform the field’s direction.
American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting
April 17-22
San Diego
While the American Society of Clinical Oncology’s meeting often gets billed as the field’s largest conference, AACR has become an equally major gathering for cancer science, particularly earlier-stage findings on new drug mechanisms of action or treatment modalities.
American Academy of Neurology Annual Meeting
April 18-22
Chicago
AAN often features the latest findings in research for diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, making it one of the top forums for assessing recent progress in neuroscience.
American Society of Gene and Cell Therapy Annual Meeting
May 11-15
Boston
ASGCT has grown with the cell and gene therapy field, becoming a premier conference as the sector expanded and treatments advanced further into human testing. While such therapies still offer much promise, the difficulties companies face successfully marketing them have made the meeting a health check for the sector as well.
European Association for the Study of the Liver Congress
May 27-30
Barcelona, Spain
From hepatitis C to MASH, the burden of liver diseases is large and costly. Europe’s main hepatology meeting is an international forum for the latest research into these disorders as clinicians present data on risk factors and new treatment approaches.
American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting
May 29-June 2
Chicago
ASCO is a lodestone for cancer drug research with the highest profile and widest impact. The data presented each year at McCormick Place in Chicago often changes treatment standards, as well as makes (or breaks) the fortunes of drug developers.
American Diabetes Association’s Scientific Sessions
June 5-8
New Orleans
ADA is one of the largest medical meetings focused on diabetes and frequently features new research on the care and treatment of differing patient populations with the condition.
European Hematology Association Congress
June 11-14
Stockholm
EHA is one of the year’s biggest meetings devoted specifically to hematology and includes results at the forefront of research into leukemias, lymphomas and non-malignant blood diseases like sickle cell disease.
BIO International Convention
June 22-25
San Diego
BIO’s International Convention is always an important convener for biotech and pharma companies’ business development teams. It’s also regularly a venue for industry leaders to discuss and debate the top challenges facing the sector.
European Society of Cardiology Annual Congress
Aug. 28-31
Munich
ESC brings together tens of thousands of cardiology experts to discuss practice-changing research in heart disease. The meeting has been a recent venue for important study results from Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Novo Nordisk and AstraZeneca, among other companies.
World Conference on Lung Cancer
Sept. 12-15
Seoul, South Korea
WCLC is the world’s top conference on advances in lung cancer, one of the most competitive areas in oncology and a coveted market among drugmakers. Over the last couple years, the WCLC has been the forum for advances among a closely watched group of cancer immunotherapies called PD-1/VEGF inhibitors, which could change the way many lung tumors are treated.
European Society for Medical Oncology Congress
Oct. 23-27
Madrid
ESMO is Europe’s answer to the American Society of Clinical Oncology’s annual meeting and just as often features standard-shifting cancer research. While immunotherapy remains an active area of exploration for drugmakers, increasingly other treatment types like antibody-drug conjugates and radiopharmaceuticals have been featured at oncology conferences.
The Liver Meeting
TBD
TBD
Thousands of hepatology professionals gather each year at the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases’ annual meeting.
American Heart Association Scientific Sessions
Nov. 7-9
Chicago
AHA is always a major forum for the latest research on medicines to treat diseases of the heart.
19th Clinical Trials on Alzheimer's Disease
TBD
TBD
Focused on medicines for Alzheimer’s disease, CTAD hosts scientists and experts in the field to discuss new treatment approaches for the neurological condition.
American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting
TBD
TBD
This meeting regularly features compelling new research on treatments for diseases of the blood, from cancers to non-malignant disorders like sickle cell and beta thalassemia.
