Johnson & Johnson Innovation, Children's National Health System collaborate

Officials from Johnson & Johnson Innovation LLC and Children's National Health System (Children's National) announce a collaboration to launch JLABS @ Washington, DC, a 32,000ft² facility to be located at the new Children's National Research and Innovation Campus in Washington, DC. This Children's National expansion is set on a nearly 12-acre portion of the former Walter Reed Army Medical Center campus in the nation's capital. The co-location of the Research and Innovation Campus with key partners in the areas of public health research, innovation, and incubator space is critical to accelerating the translation of potential breakthrough discoveries into new treatments and technologies. The JLABS @ Washington, DC site will be open to pharmaceutical, medical device, consumer and health technology companies that are aiming to advance the development of new drugs, medical devices, precision diagnostics and health technologies, including applications in pediatrics.

This collaboration marks the second time Johnson & Johnson and Children's National have teamed up to emphasize the importance of investing in the health and well-being of babies and children around the world. Through either sponsorship or membership, both entities founded Safe Kids Worldwide, a nonprofit organization aiming to help families and communities keep kids safe from injuries.

Children's National leads the FDA-funded National Capital Consortium for Pediatric Device Innovation in collaboration with the University of Maryland, College Park. The consortium has provided mentorship support to more than 60 medical device startups to help advance their pediatric innovations. Five of the devices assisted by this program have received either CE Mark approval or FDA market clearance. Children's National has also spun out more than 20 start-up companies from its own intellectual property.

Children's National is currently ranked 7th in National Institutes of Health (NIH) research funding among pediatric hospitals. The new campus will allow Children's National to expand its research programs. A key area of expansion when the campus opens will be high-impact opportunities in pediatric genomic and precision medicine, anchored by the organization's Center for Genetic Medicine Research and Rare Disease Institute. Its proximity to federal research institutions and agencies, universities, and academic research centers enables the new Children's National campus to leverage the rich ecosystem of the public and private sectors to help bolster innovation.

Johnson & Johnson Innovation seeks to find the best science and technology, no matter where it is located, aiming to solve the greatest unmet medical and healthcare needs of our time. JLABS, in addition to offering emerging life science companies modular lab units, office space, shared core laboratory equipment and business facilities, will link the entrepreneurs within the District and across the greater Virginia and Maryland regions with the full breadth of the Johnson & Johnson Innovation model, including opportunities for funding, third-party services, educational events and R&D experts from medical technology, consumer healthcare product and Janssen pharmaceutical teams. In addition to providing access to scientific, industry and capital funding experts from across the industry, JLABS @ Washington, DC will also follow the same no-strings attached approach currently in operation in San Diego; San Francisco; South San Francisco; Boston; Lowell, MA; Houston; Toronto; New York City; Beerse, Belgium; and Shanghai, China (opening June 2019). 

JLABS @ Washington, DC to provide residency for emerging companies dedicated to improving the speed and effectiveness of a medical countermeasure response to emerging pathogens and health security threats the nation faces
As part of the JLABS @ Washington, DC launch, the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), a component of the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, will collaborate with Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JLABS to develop and maintain a specialized innovation zone that will be dedicated to the advancement of medical countermeasures aimed at securing our nation from chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) threats, as well as from pandemic influenza and emerging infectious diseases. The innovation zone will provide residency for eligible companies and entrepreneurs focused on solutions with the potential to improve our nation's response capacity and capabilities to address 21st century health security threats.

This agreement further builds on established collaborations between Janssen Research & Development LLC (Janssen) and BARDA to accelerate new therapies and vaccines to protect communities against these threats and seeks to leverage JLABS' experience catalyzing communities of entrepreneurs, investors and thought leaders to further promote and support the development of related treatments and prevention solutions. 

QuickFire Challenge to accelerate pediatric-centered innovation
Johnson & Johnson Innovation is proud to be among those answering the call to prioritize pediatric care, a message widely celebrated at the 2018 State of the Union address alongside the promise of an additional $500 million in government funding for pediatric oncology research over the next 10 years.

To mark the launch of the new JLABS on the Children's National campus and the collaboration with BARDA, JLABS announced the JLABS @ Washington, DC Children's QuickFire Challenge aiming to accelerate the development and commercialization of pediatric-centered healthcare innovation. Innovators with the best ideas, technologies, or solutions that impact pediatric oncology, pediatric surgical care, and influenza will receive up to $150,000 in grant funding, residency at JLABS @ Washington, DC  with the use of a bench, workstation and access to the JLABS @ Washington, DC community for one year, and mentoring from across the Johnson & Johnson Family of Companies.

The JLABS @ Washington, DC Children's QuickFire Challenge encourages innovators to submit their ideas starting today, April 9, 2019 through February 7, 2020. The awardee(s) will be announced in 2020. For more information about the application process, please visit https://jlabs.tv/DC.

JLABS facilities have incubated more than 500 companies to date and are currently home to over 330 companies advancing pharmaceutical, medical device, consumer, and health technology programs. More than 120 collaborations have been formed between companies working with JLABS and the Johnson & Johnson Family of Companies.

Applications to join JLABS @ Washington, DC and other JLABS sites are currently being accepted from biotech, pharmaceutical, medical device, consumer health, and health technology companies.