Janssen announces new group targeting unmet global health needs

Janssen
Jan. 23, 2014, 12:33 p.m.

Janssen Global Public Health to oversee R&D and access strategy development for growing portfolio of transformational medicines

BEERSE, BELGIUM (22 JANUARY 2014) Janssen, the pharmaceutical companies of Johnson & Johnson, today announced the formation of Janssen Global Public Health (Janssen GPH), an important new group unifying Janssen’s commitment to research, develop, and deliver transformational medicines to address the world’s greatest unmet public health needs. Janssen GPH will align the company’s groundbreaking science and innovative access models under a single entity to drive better health outcomes, improve quality of life for patients, and sustainably advance health for people all over the world.

“To solve today’s greatest public health challenges, it’s essential that we emphasize the needs of the developing world in equal measure to those of the developed world,” said Paul Stoffels, M.D., Chief Scientific Officer, Johnson & Johnson and Worldwide Chairman of Janssen. “With this new group, we’ve adopted a more focused approach to further develop and introduce our most promising medicines, and with other like-minded organizations, we look forward to advancing a sustainable platform that will make a significant impact on the lives of people around the world.”

Janssen GPH is one part of Janssen’s and Johnson & Johnson’s shared response to the world’s global public health challenges. Other organizations and operating companies within the Company have launched and continue to support comprehensive efforts toward strengthening the health of communities, improving maternal and child health, and preventing the spread of infectious and preventable diseases worldwide through vaccination. Janssen GPH will partner with other organizations within the Company as appropriate to advance global public health goals.  Adrian Thomas, M.D., Vice President of Global Market Access, Global Commercial Strategy Operations, and Global Public Health, and Wim Parys, M.D., Vice President, R&D Global Public Health, will jointly lead Janssen GPH.

Janssen GPH will be responsible for clinical and product development and creating and implementing innovative new access strategies for a growing portfolio of pharmaceuticals, diagnostics, and services for diseases significantly impacting resource-limited countries and emerging markets, and includes:

“The world’s major global health challenges call for products and practices designed specifically to address the real world needs of people living with disease in underserved regions of the world,” said Wim Parys, M.D. “As dedicated researchers, we recognize this unmet need. We also have the ability to leverage our R&D skills and expertise in collaborations that support innovative solutions for the developing world, specifically developed for places in need and appropriate for local contexts. Through Janssen GPH, we hope to create more targeted medicines for treating and preventing disease.”

Beyond research and development, Janssen GPH will cultivate and help implement innovative pricing and results-based financing models that improve access to these medicines for patients in resource-limited and emerging markets, while also creating sustainable, long-term solutions based on country ownership and accountability for health services and outcomes. These new strategies will be integrated with those developed by Janssen’s Global Access and Partnerships Program (GAPP), which currently ensure affordable and sustainable access to the company’s portfolio of HIV medicines in resource-limited countries.

Janssen GPH recognizes the need for enhanced collaborations to better address unmet public health needs around the world. Janssen GPH will be the central point of contact for continued collaboration with global public health stakeholders and invites innovative, international, and multi-sectorial collaborations to tackle key challenges in global public health, such as MDR-TB. Janssen GPH also will work with stakeholders to ensure that public health policies are developed to maximize access to our portfolio of medicines needed by patients around the world.

We are applying our expertise where we can make the biggest impact,” said Adrian Thomas, M.D. “Our goal is to address seemingly intractable health challenges in new and unexpected ways.”

About the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson

The Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson are dedicated to addressing and solving the most important unmet medical needs of our time, including oncology (e.g., multiple myeloma and prostate cancer), immunology (e.g., rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease and psoriasis), neuroscience (e.g., schizophrenia, dementia and pain), infectious disease (e.g., HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis C and tuberculosis), and cardiovascular and metabolic diseases (e.g., diabetes).

Driven by our commitment to patients, we develop sustainable, integrated healthcare solutions by working side-by-side with healthcare stakeholders, based on partnerships of trust and transparency. To learn more, visit www.janssen.com.

About Janssen Pharmaceutica

Janssen Pharmaceutica NV is a worldwide center for excellence for integrated R&D, production and general services.  The company has four sites in Belgium (Beerse I & II, Geel and Olen), which together employ nearly 4,000 people.

More than eighty medicines registered to the company are used worldwide in human medicine and material protection.  The company operates in a wide range of pathological areas, such as neurosciences, oncology and infectious diseases.


Source: Janssen