Johnson & Johnson Innovation Announces Three Strategic Collaborations with a Focus on Advancing Healthcare Solutions in China

SHANGHAI, Nov. 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Johnson & Johnson Innovation, division of Johnson & Johnson (China) Investment Limited, announced today three new collaborations with strategic partners in China at the third China International Import Expo (CIIE) in Shanghai. These latest collaborations, facilitated by the Johnson & Johnson Asia Pacific Innovation Center, showcase its broad innovation efforts and focus on leveraging advances in science and technology to address areas of high unmet medical need across several areas, including discovery science, lung cancer and medical devices.

"At Johnson & Johnson Innovation, we recognize China as an important innovative hotspot in Asia Pacific and are committed to deepening our support for the country's healthcare ecosystem," said Dan Wang, Head of Johnson & Johnson Innovation, Asia Pacific*. "These new collaborations demonstrate our commitment to building connections between entrepreneurs, researchers, biotech companies and other innovators to accelerate innovation for the benefit of patients and consumers in China and the world for years to come."

The collaborations are as follows:

1. Leveraging AI in drug discovery – Janssen Pharmaceutica NV, one of the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson, has established a multi-target drug discovery collaboration with Insilico Medicine Hong Kong Ltd., a Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JLABS @ Shanghai resident company specializing in AI-based drug discovery. The agreement will leverage Insilico Medicine's AI-based platform to design small molecule hits with the defined properties for several targets nominated by Janssen. The collaboration aims to generate novel and fully patentable chemical scaffolds for difficult targets using AI-based drug designing, potentially leading to significant reductions in time and cost in identifying biologically active hits against selected targets.
    
2. Developing AI solutions for lung cancer detection – The Lung Cancer Initiative at Johnson & Johnson in China, through its affiliate Johnson & Johnson (China) Investment Limited, has entered into a research collaboration with Diannei (Shanghai) Biotechnology Co. Ltd., a Chinese company specializing in AI solutions for lung cancer management. The agreement will see both parties work together to develop computer vision AI for lung cancer diagnosis. Diannei's expertise is in developing AI solutions with deep learning for medical image analysis.
    
3. Innovative healthcare solutions for sports injury – Johnson & Johnson Medical (Shanghai) Limited (JJMS) announced an agreement with Taikang Online Insurance Co. Ltd. (Tk.cn), a Chinese online healthcare insurance company, to develop an innovative sports injury-related insurance package. JJMS will support Tk.cn by offering its industrial insights, while Tk.cn designs reimbursement coverage to sports enthusiasts which aim to enable timely diagnosis and appropriate surgical treatment for patients.

"Johnson & Johnson has deep roots in China for the past 35 years to address the growing needs of patients and consumers. We are delighted to mark the third annual CIIE, a significant platform that supports the expansion, innovation and internationalization of the Chinese business environment, by announcing these new collaboration agreements," said Will Song, Global Senior Vice President, China Chairman, Johnson & Johnson^*. "These agreements span a diverse range of focus areas and represent a valuable opportunity to advance human health for the country by connecting global and local innovators with the expertise of the Johnson & Johnson Family of Companies to help transform great ideas into breakthrough solutions."

Johnson & Johnson Innovation works globally with life science researchers and entrepreneurs to identify promising technologies at all stages of development and helps translate these ideas into solutions for patients. The Asia Pacific Innovation Center works closely together with JLABS @ Shanghai, the Johnson & Johnson Lung Cancer Initiative, World Without Disease Accelerator and Johnson & Johnson pharmaceutical, medical devices and consumer health R&D teams on many initiatives to nurture and accelerate early-stage innovation in an open innovation model in China. To connect with a Johnson & Johnson Innovation team member, please visit www.jnjinnovation.com/contact.

About Johnson & Johnson Innovation LLC

Johnson & Johnson Innovation focuses on accelerating all stages of innovation worldwide and forming collaborations between entrepreneurs and Johnson & Johnson's global healthcare businesses. Johnson & Johnson Innovation provides scientists, entrepreneurs and emerging companies with one-stop access to science and technology experts who can facilitate collaborations across the pharmaceutical, medical device and consumer companies of Johnson & Johnson. Under the Johnson & Johnson Innovation umbrella of businesses, we connect with innovators through our regional Innovation Centers; Johnson & Johnson Innovation - JLABS; JJDC, Inc.; and our business development teams to create customized deals and novel collaborations that speed development of innovations to solve unmet needs in patients. JLABS provides the laboratories, expertise, education, tools and resources needed to help life science startups thrive, all with no strings attached. A Johnson & Johnson Innovation Center for Device Innovation at the Texas Medical Center (CDI @ TMC) has been established to accelerate the development of medical devices. For more information about Johnson & Johnson Innovation, please visit: www.jnjinnovation.com.

About the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson

At Janssen, we're creating a future where disease is a thing of the past. We're the Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson, working tirelessly to make that future a reality for patients everywhere by fighting sickness with science, improving access with ingenuity, and healing hopelessness with heart. We focus on areas of medicine where we can make the biggest difference: Cardiovascular & Metabolism, Immunology, Infectious Diseases & Vaccines, Neuroscience, Oncology, and Pulmonary Hypertension.

Learn more at www.janssen.com. Follow us at www.twitter.com/JanssenGlobal. Janssen Pharmaceutica NV is part of the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson.

Cautions Concerning Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains "forward-looking statements" as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 regarding the collaboration with Insilico Medicine Hong Kong Ltd., Diannei (Shanghai) Biotechnology Co. Ltd. and Taikang Online Insurance Co. Ltd. The reader is cautioned not to rely on these forward-looking statements. These statements are based on current expectations of future events. If underlying assumptions prove inaccurate or known or unknown risks or uncertainties materialize, actual results could vary materially from the expectations and projections of Johnson & Johnson Innovation LLC and/or Johnson & Johnson. Risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to: the potential that the expected benefits and opportunities related to the collaboration may not be realized or may take longer to realize than expected; challenges inherent in new product development, including the uncertainty of clinical success and obtaining regulatory approvals; competition, including technological advances, new products and patents attained by competitors; uncertainty of commercial success for new products; the ability of the company to successfully execute strategic plans; impact of business combinations and divestitures; challenges to patents; changes in behavior and spending patterns or financial distress of purchasers of health care products and services; and global health care reforms and trends toward health care cost containment. A further list and descriptions of these risks, uncertainties and other factors can be found in Johnson & Johnson's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 30, 2019, including in the sections captioned "Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements" and "Item 1A. Risk Factors," in the company's most recently filed Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, and the company's subsequent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Copies of these filings are available online at www.sec.gov, www.jnj.com or on request from Johnson & Johnson. Neither Johnson & Johnson Innovation LLC nor Johnson & Johnson undertakes to update any forward-looking statement as a result of new information or future events or developments