With a host of sites around the U.S. and increasingly around the world, Johnson & Johnson’s startup arm JLABS has opened its latest city hub in the nation’s capital.
And it’s not doing it alone: JLABS @ Washington, D.C., as it’s called, is partnering up with the Children's National Health System, a research hospital for kids, on a 32,000-square-foot facility at the CNHS’s Innovation Campus in the city.
The JLABS site will be open to pharmaceutical, medical device, consumer and health tech companies working on new drugs, medical devices, precision diagnostics and health technologies, including those working on pediatrics.
“The vision we pursued for this campus required a global innovation partner with a strong commitment to pediatric health and a clear understanding of the next big areas of opportunity for improving human health. We believe the JLABS model is exactly what is needed to help us drive discoveries that are then rapidly translated into new treatments and technologies,” said Kurt Newman, M.D., president and CEO at Children's National.
Paul Stoffels, M.D., chief scientific officer and vice chairman of the executive committee at Johnson & Johnson, added: “We are delighted to launch JLABS @ Washington, D.C. in this uniquely vibrant and diverse life sciences ecosystem of world-class medical research centers, universities and government entities that can help us address some of the world's most critical emerging health threats.”
RELATED: Johnson & Johnson to open JLabs virtual networking pod in Philadelphia
At its latest location, JLABS, in addition to its established model of offering emerging life science startups access to things like modular lab units, office space, shared core lab equipment and business facilities, will also “link the entrepreneurs within the District and across the greater Virginia and Maryland regions with the full breadth of the Johnson & Johnson Innovation model, including opportunities for funding, third-party services, educational events and R&D experts from medical technology, consumer healthcare product and Janssen pharmaceutical teams.” As ever, it's a no-strings-attached deal, so J&J won't try to grab patents or interfere in anyone's tech.
It will also boost JLABS’ work with the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, which as part of its D.C. launch will see the pair work on a “specialized innovation zone” focused on creating medical countermeasures from chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear threats, as well as from pandemic flu and other emerging infectious diseases.
The innovation zone is set up to house companies and entrepreneurs working in these sorts of areas.
The Washington, D.C., site adds to a growing number of JLABS locations including: San Diego, San Francisco and South San Francisco in California, Boston and Lowell in Massachusetts, Houston, Toronto, New York City, Beerse, Belgium, and Shanghai, China (opening this summer).