BioCentury
ARTICLE | Strategy

The priority of proximity

How J&J Innovation is expanding out from its research hubs to access innovation

July 9, 2015 7:00 AM UTC

Following on two years of success with its four innovation centers, Johnson & Johnson is expanding its hub-and-spoke model for identifying and developing external early stage innovations to new regions. Among the 17 deals announced last month by Johnson & Johnson Innovation, the pharma's early stage collaboration unit, three are designed to extend the company's reach into research institutions in Europe and Canada.

One is a partnership with the Karolinska Institute to form a Nordic innovation hub. The other two are broad collaborations that grant J&J access to more early stage technology: a drug discovery deal with the Lead Discovery Center GmbH (LDC) that spans Germany, and an extended and expanded collaboration with MaRS Innovation in Toronto to support emerging science projects in Ontario...