Companies across a range of therapeutic areas are taking a precision medicine approach to their drug discovery and development strategies. How does Johnson & Johnson tie these principles into its own pipeline?

We are becoming much more sophisticated about the root causes of disease, having greatly advanced our understanding of human biology and the alterations that occur in many diseases.  With precision medicine, we can take into account an individual’s genetics, lifestyle and environment to achieve more targeted disease treatment and prevention.  This aligns with J&J’s commitment to investing in platforms that are focused on disease prevention, interception and cure.  In contrast to infectious diseases where we have seen major advancements in prevention and cures, diseases like lung cancer and Alzheimer’s are very complex and there’s an urgent need to develop a clearer ability to identify the individuals at greatest risk, identify strategies aimed at intercepting the disease causing process and treating the diseases at the earliest possible stage.  Our investment in GRAIL is a great example of a novel approach to diagnose malignancies such as lung cancer while it is still curable.

Over the last few years, we have seen an increasing concentration of innovation coming from universities, spin-outs and small biotech start-ups. How integral are collaborations with these enterprises to Johnson & Johnson?

They are critically important.  Our ability to grow our business is based on a balance of internal scientific strength and external innovation. We know that a great idea can come from anywhere – inside or outside our company – and we are committed to helping those ideas become healthcare solutions for patients.  As an example of that commitment, we formed Johnson & Johnson Innovation to specifically accelerate early-stage innovation worldwide, and through this channel we provide scientists and entrepreneurs with access to our internal experts who can facilitate collaborations across the pharmaceutical, medical device and consumer sectors of Johnson & Johnson.  Earlier this year we announced that through our Innovation Centers we executed more than 350 collaborations since their establishment in 2012.

Boston/Cambridge and the San Francisco Bay Area have garnered particular attention for innovation and life sciences activity. Does Johnson & Johnson’s strong historical New Jersey presence hold a notable advantage, or is the company’s focus shifting towards other hubs?

Johnson & Johnson has a large footprint in New Jersey; we began investing in the region in 1886 and have been an integral part of the community ever since.  New Jersey remains a great hub for the pharmaceutical industry and has many advantages including proximity to leading research universities, global transportation hubs as well as access to financial markets.  There’s also a critical mass of high-quality talent in the region.  In addition to our core operational strength in New Jersey, we established our Innovation Centers around the globe in life science hot spots including Boston, San Francisco, Shanghai and London, as well as a global network of JLABS facilities, which are similar to incubators, that enable entrepreneurs to accelerate the delivery of potentially transformative healthcare solutions.

How Important is innovation to Johnson & Johnson going forward?

Johnson & Johnson is the world’s largest, most broadly based healthcare company with a focus in consumer health, pharmaceuticals and medical devices.  As a company, we’ve made stunning contributions to years of life gained and quality of life since 1886, and we’ve always been able to evolve to meet the needs of customers. While people are living longer today than ever before, they are likely to spend years or even decades living with chronic health conditions.  That is why we believe investing in innovation that’s not only focused on treating disease but also preventing it or intercepting it at its earliest stage is paramount.  At J&J we are fully committed to delivering disruptive innovation that addresses critical unmet needs in healthcare and makes a difference to future generations.  It’s also important to ensure the long-term sustainability of our healthcare systems. Increasing our investment in innovation is an important part of Johnson & Johnson’s strategy, and in 2017 we achieved record levels of investment with over US$10 billion in research and development.