SAN FRANCISCO — For the makers of drugs, diagnostics, and medical technology, the annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare conference, which drew to a close Thursday, is a kind of family reunion, a gathering that this year attracted more than 8,000 industry leaders. Chief executives of almost every publicly traded US biotechnology and pharmaceutical company, and most of their counterparts from Europe, see it as a must-attend event. Massachusetts has one of largest contingents here, with dozens of companies.

Here are a few nuggets mined from this week’s conference: