Opening our Doors to Collaboration with the Launch of JLABS @ Shanghai
This week, I had the great privilege of joining the opening of the first Asia Pacific JLABS, launched in the bustling city of Shanghai.
Now in thirteen locations around the world, JLABS is on course to become the world’s leading life science incubator, empowering and equipping innovators to deliver lifesaving and life-enhancing health solutions to people around the globe.
I am proud to report that JLABS @ Shanghai is our largest facility globally, providing collaborative space for around 50 biotechnology and medical device start-ups. These researchers will not only work alongside innovators in Shanghai but will have the opportunity to collaborate with other JLABS around the world.
Until now, JLABS have operated in North America and Europe. This timely launch signifies our commitment to deepen collaborations in China in anticipation of a new wave of pharmaceutical innovation led by China’s entrepreneurial spirit and amazing researchers.
We firmly believe that JLABS @ Shanghai will act as a bridge to fast-track Chinese innovation, not just for patients in China but for those in Asia Pacific and around the globe. We also believe that these labs will attract start-ups from outside China who aspire to innovate at scale in China for Asia Pacific.
We have no doubt that our Shanghai JLABS journey will deliver huge rewards for researchers and innovators, for patients and our partners, and of course for China. It is a truly exciting time for this region.
I am certain that the founder of Janssen, the late-Dr Paul Janssen would be particularly proud of this newest JLABS. When he led us into China 35 years ago, he was deeply committed to partnerships, to science and to medical innovation in this great nation.
He recognised that “fighting sickness with science” is a shared responsibility. No organisation has all the answers. That is why he encouraged collaboration, forged partnerships and provided support to those whose ideas may lead to the next penicillin moment.
The Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson have a shared mission “to open our doors to collaboration, and our arms to the needs of each patient, so that what works in the lab also works in their lives”.
For those of us inspired by this commitment, we should also remember the common refrain of Dr Paul Janssen: “The patients are waiting”.
Ai Hua Ong was appointed Company Group Chairperson of Janssen Asia Pacific in June 2017. She began her career with J&J in 1990 as a Product Specialist and gradually assumed general management responsibilities for a cluster of businesses in Singapore, China, South Asia and the Asia Pacific region. In addition to her inclusive leadership style, one of Ai Hua’s biggest sources of inspiration comes from her community work with the Dover Park Hospice in Singapore, where she volunteers as a patient befriender – a role which provides companionship and support to terminally ill patients.