A great idea for the next generation of therapeutics and medical devices or consumer products can come from everywhere: from Universities and research centers, from startup incubators as well as from small and mid-size biotech and healthcare companies. In order to gain access to this external innovation, J&J created a separate organization, J&J Innovation, that is dedicated to finding and supporting those breakthrough ideas across the globe.
J&J Innovation is organized into four Innovation Centers which are located in some of the major innovation hotspots in the life sciences: Our innovation centers in San Francisco and Boston serve the US West and East coast respectively, London for the whole EMEA region, and Shanghai for Asia Pacific. The Innovation Center in London is our gateway into the European innovation landscape, and it coordinates mainly three main activities:
The first is collaborations and strategic partnerships with Universities and research institutes, startup incubators and healthcare companies. The second activity is supporting entrepreneurs through our JLABS startup incubator located at our Janssen R&D site in Beerse (Belgium) which is one of 13 JLABS globally. JLABS provides large pharma infrastructure and resources, as well as mentorship and expertise to our resident companies. The third activity is JJDC (Johnson & Johnson Development Corporation), our strategic venture capital arm, through which we provide venture and equity funding to startup companies within our strategic focus areas. These three pillars of J&J Innovation provide a one-stop shop for entrepreneurs on their journey from a game-changing discovery in the laboratory to providing the next generation of healthcare solutions for patients worldwide.
Switzerland is one of the leading places in the world for innovation and has an excellent academic ecosystem with several Universities and hospitals consistently ranked within the top institutions globally. As Early Innovation Partnering Lead of J&J Innovation in Switzerland, Michael Huebner's job is to regularly meet and speak with academic scientists and entrepreneurs as well as with Venture Capitalists and investors to form strong relationships and successful partnerships. We do so by attending and organizing scientific and partnering events, mentoring startup companies for example through our partnership with the BaseLaunch incubator (Basel), and by forging collaborations with the top Universities and healthcare companies in Switzerland and across Europe.
