Johnson & Johnson has opened an innovation center in China to design and develop medical devices and diagnostic products for Asia's emerging markets--primarily China and India.
The J&J Medical Companies Asia Pacific Innovation Center, located in Suzhou, China, is part of a Market Appropriate Innovation strategy aimed at better serving the people of Asia Pacific. "Both China and India are experiencing an increase in the metabolic and chronic conditions such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, obesity and cancer that many of our products diagnose or treat," Alex Gorsky, vice chairman of the executive committee, J&J. "With 125 years experience we believe Johnson & Johnson is uniquely positioned to help address the Asia's changing and growing health needs."
The company's approach will combine the strength and breadth of its seven medical devices and diagnostic franchises--Cordis, DePuy, Ethicon, Ethicon Endo-Surgery, LifeScan, Ortho Clinical Diagnostics and Vision Care--with the power of local knowledge. A number of products for the emerging markets have already been developed and launched including the Ethicon Endo-Surgery re-usable linear cutter, the Synsyl suture range for Ethicon and the DePuy REACH knee.
The center is the latest addition to the J&J Medical Companies campus in the Suzhou Industrial Park. The 278,000 square-meter site also contains a DePuy manufacturing plant, which began operation in 2007, and a Global Finance shared services center that opened in 2010 to provide general accounting services to the J&J companies in north Asia. Investment in the site to date totals $115 million.
- see the J&J release