J&J Sees China Center As Key To Asian Partnerships
This article was originally published in PharmAsia News
Executive Summary
Tapping key external partners including the government, industry and academic partners in China is high on the agenda as Johnson & Johnson opens its first Asia Innovation Center.
SHANGHAI - When Johnson & Johnson created a new position for its China operation, and appointed Jesse Wu to become the China chairman, he was tasked to strengthen relationships with “key external stakeholders.”
Now, the world’s largest health care firm has opened its first Innovation Center outside the U.S. and UK, advancing its goal of working with such partners in China.
The center, officially opened on Oct. 29 and located in Shanghai, will collaborate with the Chinese government, academics and other companies to accelerate innovation for China and around the world, said the company in a statement.
With satellites in Singapore, Australia and Japan, the Shanghai center is the fourth such facility for J&J after others in London, Boston and California, U.S.
“Innovation is at the heart of our business,” Paul Stoffels, J&J chief scientific officer and Worldwide chairman, pharmaceuticals told PharmAsia News in an interview. “We are working to bring the best minds together.”
The center is led by Dong Wu, who was most recently the vice president of R&D for J&J’s consumer business. Wu joined J&J in 2007 as the head of emerging markets R&D from Unilever. Over eight people are now working on areas ranging from early-stage sourcing to new ventures and transactions.
Along with Stoffels, head of London center Patrick Verheyen and California center Ken Drazan presented at the Shanghai center opening.
“Boots On The Ground”
The Shanghai center is significant for J&J as it can quickly address local needs, identify early-stage opportunities and collaborate broadly with partners, with all these being done by a locally based team.
“It [the Shanghai center] will play a key role in sourcing early stage science in the region for the development of new medicines, medical devices, and consumer products,” said Dong Wu in a statement.
The “boots on the ground” approach is particularly vital in China, pointed out Jesse Wu.
“Our on-the-ground presence across the region allows us to work side-by-side with our partners with speed, agility, and insight to translate innovations into new products,” the China chairman said in a statement.
“The Asia Pacific Innovation Center supports our larger goal to address China’s specific health care needs, invest in local capabilities and increase our external collaborations.”
The innovation ecosystem in China requires such an approach, pointed Patrick Verheyen, head of J&J’s London innovation center. Speaking at a forum on multinationals’ role in fostering innovation in Shanghai, organized by J&J, Verheyen said that innovation in China calls for a local presence.
“In China, you need to have boots on the ground, and you need to be there.” He added that China is also diverse, requiring hard work, patience and relationship building. That translates into working with anybody in the system, Verheyen stressed.
To that end, the J&J Asia Innovation Center so far has already struck six deals in China and Australia. Three of these are collaborations with Chinese universities: one with China Pharmaceutical University on projects including novel antibody conjugates for solid tumors and new functional foods, as well as pain relief and a long-lasting nasal decongestant.
J&J is also working with Peking University to identify agonists and antagonists for G protein-coupled receptors for novel CNS therapies. Meanwhile, Zhejiang University is being tapped to elucidate the physiological and pathological role of human lactate receptor GPR81 to regulate metabolism syndrome.
In a bid to interact directly with life science clusters, J&J is also to establish a regular presence in BioBAY, a Suzhou-based industry park.
Two Australia-based deals see the company work with James Cook University to explore proteins produced by hookworms for inflammatory bowel disease, and with the University of Queensland on spider venom to identify peptides for pain treatment.
Partner Broadly, Work Closely
In addition to a local presence, funding, adapting to local needs and closer tie-ups are also vital to innovation in China, Verheyen noted.
For multinational companies, it’s necessary to customize their approaches by tailoring collaborations to target specific needs, he stressed.
Indeed, J&J has been working with another top-notch Chinese college, Tsinghua University for years. The company provided support for Tsinghua in its recruiting primary investigators in clinical R&D of infectious and respiratory diseases.
China’s scale and the challenges of infectious respiratory diseases requires collaboration between industry and academia and other stakeholders, said Cesar Rodriguez, the president of Xian Janssen, J&J’s pharmaceutical subsidiary in China, in June (Also see "Tsinghua University And J&J Join On Respiratory Research, Talk Regulatory Push For Drug Development" - Scrip, 9 Jun, 2014.).
J&J’s Sirturo (bedaquiline), the first new treatment for tuberculosis in 40 years, sailed through the U.S. FDA in 2012 and European Medicines Agency in March 2014, but has yet to gain approval in China, the country with the second-largest TB population worldwide.
Now J&J hopes to partner broadly and work more closely to accelerate the process and expand access to its new therapies.
The forum on innovation centers, for one, has invited Shanghai governmental officials including the head of the Shanghai Commission of Commerce Yuying Shang, deputy secretary-general Yibo Xu, deputy director of the Science Commission Yulian Cai and representatives from multinationals and foreign investment associations.
“Innovation requires expertise, network and passion,” said Verheyen. “And it’s a global effort that can’t be done alone.”