Guest blog: ‘Introducing the European Innovation QuickFire Challenge’ – By Christina McGrath, Johnson & Johnson Innovation, JLABS

Johnson and Johnson Innovation has recently launched a €100,000 funding competition aimed at supporting exciting innovative ideas, technologies and solutions from the European ecosystem for improving Human healthcare. In this blog, Christina McGrath, Innovation Activation QuickFire Challenge Manager at Johnson & Johnson Innovation, JLABS, explains the challenge’s background and what it aims to achieve.

With the European pharmaceutical market projected to grow from €169bn in 2015 to €206bn in 2022, there’s tremendous anticipation for what lies ahead for a continent with leading academic resources and a rich history of innovation.

One of the 20th century's most innovative pharmaceutical researchers -  Dr. Paul Janssen -  first established Janssen Pharmaceutica N.V. in Europe more than six decades ago and lay the foundation for the discovery and development of more than 80 new medicines. That Belgian biotech industry alone funneled €3.4bn into research and development in 2016, a staggering increase of 123% compared to 10 years earlier.

In celebration of and collaboration with these strides in human healthcare, Johnson & Johnson Innovation Limited and Johnson & Johnson Innovation JLABS recently launched the European Innovation QuickFire Challenge. The innovator(s) with the best idea, technology, or solution that improves human healthcare and impacts the European ecosystem will receive up to €100,000 in grants as well as a voucher for one year of residency at an available JLABS locations, including a laboratory bench, workstation and access to the global JLABS community.

Innovators working on all aspects of human healthcare – including pharmaceuticals, consumer products, medical devices, global public health, health technologies, & cross sector initiatives -  are invited to apply through 15 June 2018.

JLABS has been host to over 330 companies that have collectively raised over $9.4bn in growth capital and is continuing to expand towards a truly global open innovation ecosystem by nurturing breakthrough science at a growing network of locations, including upcoming launches spanning from New York City to Shanghai. The unique model provides entrepreneurs with access to state-of-the-art infrastructure, expertise, and funding opportunities in a no-strings-attached environment.

In February 2018, it was announced that the Belgium-based JLINX incubator - a collaboration launched in March 2016 between Janssen Pharmaceutica NV and Bioqube Ventures - will become part of the global Johnson & Johnson Innovation network, transitioning into a JLABS, making this the first JLABS in Europe and the 10th JLABS in the world.

At Johnson & Johnson Innovation, we believe a good idea can come from anywhere, and it's our goal to find new and innovative technologies that provide solutions to patients from across the world. Working together, we can spark the next great idea that will change the trajectory of health.