J&J exec names comms technology as medical driver

Communication technology will be a key driver of medical innovation in the future, a senior Johnson & Johnson executive told a Sydney forum this week.

Dr Ted Torphy, J&J's corporate vice-president and head of the company's corporate office of science and technology, told the InnovationXchange Network Blue Sky Forum that mobile phone technology offered untapped potential for monitoring of people's health, including heart rate, and following the status of clinical trials out in the field.

"The technology is out there and the cell phone can do it," he said -- but added that it was more likely that such developments would come from healthcare companies rather than telco firms. "They won't take it on -- it will need a separate telecommunications network and will be provided by healthcare companies will to take the risk," he said.

In what he described as "peering into a crystal ball", Torphy explained that healthcare in the future would to be driven by consumer awareness and choice. The rise of the internet meant that "there must be continued transparency," he said.

The "middle ground" had to be the driver of healthcare innovation, Torphy said: "It is critically important for industry and academia to be aware of the higher level health issues. There needs to be seed investment from large companies and investment capital to bring concepts along."

The cost of innovation was simply what the market would bear, he said, and if the private sector became involved in healthcare innovation it would have to be reimbursed.

The initial cost of innovation needed to be compared with possible future costs, Torphy said.

"What is the cost of innovation and clinical trials?" he asked. "What needs to be evaluated is the economic benefit or no-benefit -- the need is to not just look at healthcare data but economic data.

"The ability to prevent health issues through biomarkers, imagery and therapeutic intervention is required and we must be able to do it in a cost effective manner."

Torphy said organ engineering was no longer science fiction and the ability to isolate and grow engineered organs -- hearts, bone or cartilage through stem cell technology was now possible.

New Jersey-based Torphy was quick to praise Australian stem cell scientists. "I have seen some of the better quality work which is world class in the stem cell area come from Australia -- which has always been a leader in biomedical research," he said.