Johnson & Johnson ($JNJ) has hit a milestone--with more than 200 collaborations formed through its Johnson & Johnson Innovation that was launched in 2013. The latest crop of 17 new collaborations with research institutions and healthcare companies brings with it at least 5 that clearly could help advance the state of med tech.
One of the most ambitious of these is a partnership between Washington University professor Dr. Emil Unanue with the Disease Interception Accelerator (DIA), which J&J launched in February, as well as its Janssen Pharmaceuticals to work toward discovering the underlying causes of Type 1 diabetes. The idea is to track the role of an antigen presenting in cells when the disease first presents and that remain present throughout its progression. The project is expected to enable the detection of Type 1 detection prior to the onset of disease.
Also on the diagnostics front, Janssen Biotech has partnered with organs-on-a-chip startup Emulate, which launched last year with a $12 million Series A from investors including Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. The collaboration is to deploy Emulate's platform across specific Janssen Research & Development clinical research program, including the use of Lung-on-a-Chip to evaluate pulmonary thrombosis and Liver-on-a-Chip to better predict liver toxicity.
In addition, DePuy Synthes has started a pair of collaborations in orthopedics, but neither partner was disclosed. One deal will focus on advancing biomarkers to detect infection, while the other is an academic institution deal to evaluate next-gen cements for orthopedic applications.
Finally, J&J Innovation has a new collaboration with MaRS Innovation, a Toronto-based med tech accelerator. The pair had a previous alliance that resulted in an undisclosed medical device that currently is in clinical testing to improve patient outcomes after catheter ablation.
"Johnson & Johnson Innovation is focused on bringing forward cutting-edge healthcare solutions that could extend and improve lives. The collaborations announced today aim to accelerate innovation at all stages of research and development," said J&J CSO and worldwide chairman of pharmaceuticals Dr. Paul Stoffels in a statement. "We are committed to working with researchers around the world to push the boundaries of what science and medicine can achieve to transform healthcare."
- here is the release
- get FierceBiotech's take