This was my first year attending BIO. JPM is called the “Super Bowl of biotech,” so with delegations from dozens of countries in attendance, you might say BIO is the World Cup. The big question I had going in, like with any other industry event, was “what are the vibes going to be like?” After witnessing some, frankly, bad overall moods at other major events last year, I was struck by how different things felt at BIO 2026. 

Joining me in San Diego were STAT biotech correspondent Meghana Keshavan, health tech reporter Brittany Trang, and Washington correspondent Daniel Payne. In this week’s STATus Report, you’ll get vibe checks from some industry executives and my three aforementioned colleagues and hear what difference a year can make.