There’s an unmistakable buzz throughout Johnson & Johnson as members of our organization make the voyage to the BIO International Convention taking place this week in one of the world’s hotbeds of life science innovation–San Francisco.
As one of the largest biotechnology partnering meetings, BIO provides countless opportunities for our scientists, business development and innovation experts to share knowledge and forge connections that will lead to the next wave of transformational advances.
At Johnson & Johnson, we value what partnerships can bring to our organization—and, more importantly, what they can bring to patients. We know that collaboration is the only way the world will solve our most serious health challenges, and we also recognize that the next innovative idea can come from anywhere in the world.
This is why, every day, we work to identify and fuel life science and technology innovation wherever it exists, through our internal R&D, the Johnson & Johnson Innovation Centers, our no-strings-attached incubators and our numerous collaborations with partners across the globe. We collaborate with entrepreneurs, academic researchers and industry partners to move the best ideas forward.
What’s in Store at This Year’s BIO International Convention
On a personal note, one of the most exciting things I find about BIO is the opportunity to meet and be inspired by so many young scientists and entrepreneurs. Their talent is impressive, their energy contagious and their ideas exciting.
One way we nurture young entrepreneurs is through our JLABS incubators, including our South San Francisco location, where we have more than 25 companies pursuing innovative early-stage ideas. Through this and our support of programs like the BioGENEius Challenge and the Science Mentoring & Diversity Program for Biotech, we hope to fuel the next generation of biotech leaders, ensuring the vibrancy of the life sciences ecosystem for many years to come.
This week we’ll be announcing a new innovation challenge that will include funding and JLABS residency for a top emerging start-up. We are also excited to celebrate the most passionate researchers of our day and the power of their discoveries to change the world as we announce the winner of the 2016 Dr. Paul Janssen Award for Biomedical Research on June 8. Please look for these announcements in the days to come.
So as we’re putting the final touches on our presentations for this year’s big event in the Golden Gate City, we couldn’t be more excited about sharing our ideas and hearing yours. We want to make the connection—and work together to make great ideas a reality.
If you’re one of the thousands who will be in San Francisco this week, we hope to meet you, too. Stop by booth #6709, or attend any of the more than 20 panels and educational sessions that will feature Johnson & Johnson scientists and executives, including such topics as sports-related brain injuries, universal flu vaccines, compassionate use of investigational medicines, responding to the Zika virus, harnessing the microbiome, disease interception and bispecific immunotherapies for cancer.
We look forward to hearing your ideas and sharing our vision for a world free of disease.
Dr. Paul Stoffels, M.D., is Chief Scientific Officer and Worldwide Chairman, Pharmaceuticals, Johnson & Johnson. In this role, he works with R&D leaders across the company to set the enterprise-wide innovation agenda and is a member of the Johnson & Johnson Executive Committee. He chairs the Johnson & Johnson R&D Management Committee and provides oversight to the Johnson & Johnson Development Corporation and the Johnson & Johnson Innovation Centers, with the goal of catalyzing innovative science and technology.