Johnson & Johnson Innovation to open partnering office at Monash Uni

Johnson and Johnson Innovation (JJI), the Victorian Government and Monash University have announced the creation of a Johnson & Johnson Innovation Partnering Office, to be to be situated at Monash’s Clayton campus in Melbourne.

JJIPO@MONASH will be the Victorian headquarters for Johnson & Johnson’s scientific, investment and commercialisation arms to identify medtech projects that can be partnered towards commercialisation. The office will facilitate access by Victorian researchers and companies to the expertise across Johnson & Johnson’s scientist research, investor and commercial business arms.

Minister for Innovation and the Digital Economy Philip Dalidakis said the new office is a great example of how Victoria’s world-leading research institutes and universities were partnering with major global players to drive growth in the medtech and pharma sector.

“Victoria is renowned for excellence and innovation in medical technologies and pharmaceuticals, and the government is working hard to support this sector so it can grow and create more jobs,” he said.

“This new office is a great initiative that will see industry leaders collaborating with local researchers to turn today’s breakthrough into tomorrow’s commercial success.”

According to Sarah Newton, Pro Vice-Chancellor of Monash University (Enterprise), the positioning of JJIPO@MONASH makes sense, as “Victoria has the talent and infrastructure to develop and commercialise its world-class medtech and pharma research.” Indeed, Victoria is home to over 40% of Australia’s ASX-listed health science companies.

Johnson and Johnson Innovation (JJI) is the external innovation and partnering division of Johnson & Johnson, with four innovation centres and five innovation satellites worldwide. JJI already has research collaborations with Monash University, the Walter & Eliza Hall Institute, the University of Melbourne, RMIT and St Vincent’s Institute, but the JJIPO@MONASH will act as a hub to “coordinate and upskill the Victorian life science community and to develop programs which will facilitate greater connectivity at both a state and global level”, Newton said.

Meanwhile, it has been separately announced that Monash University has extended its collaboration with Janssen Biotech, one of the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson, enabling researchers to investigate triggers and potential new treatments for psoriasis.

The collaboration, facilitated by Monash Innovation and Johnson & Johnson Innovation, Asia Pacific, will continue to focus on groundbreaking research to examine the interplay between genetic and environmental triggers of psoriasis — an immune-mediated disease which affects 125 million people worldwide and 300,000 Australians.

The collaboration is an extension of a three-year research program focused on the development of novel approaches to treat autoimmune disease. Professor Jamie Rossjohn, from the Biomedicine Discovery Institute, Faculty of Medicine, will lead the research team at Monash University.

“We’re delighted to be working alongside Janssen once again in a joint effort to broaden our knowledge around this condition and develop novel treatments for psoriasis,” Professor Rossjohn said.

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