Imperial’s White City Campus hosted the London hub of an international educational workshop held by Johnson & Johnson Innovation.

The session, titled ‘Essentials of partnering with a healthcare company’ was organised simultaneously across four of Europe’s leading life sciences hubs – London, Amsterdam, Liège, and Milan, taking place on Thursday 6 July.

Scores of founders, C-level executives and business development professionals drawn from healthcare startups, established companies, universities and research organisations convened at the iconic Sir Michael Uren Hub to explore the practicalities and benefits of partnering.

Johnson & Johnson has established over 650 R&D collaborations in the last decade. In the workshop, we heard in detail from members of Johnson & Johnson Innovation EMEA. Toby Richardson, Senior Director and Early Innovation Partner, Fiona MacLaughlin, Principal, Venture Investments, and Elena Fernandez-Kleinlein, Head of JLABS EMEA, presented the broad collaboration model offered by Johnson & Johnson Innovation, and routes to academic and startup engagement.

In the afternoon, Ahmed Mohamed, Senior Director, Early Innovation Partnering at Johnson & Johnson Innovation led a multi-hub meeting, bringing together participants from across Europe for a deep dive into the detail of the steps required for successful partnering with healthcare companies. Workshop attendees in London contributed their experiences of partnering, adding depth to the discussion.

By bringing together industry professionals and a broad group of healthcare innovators, the session provided a platform for exploring partnering with a focus on solutions and positive outcomes, covering topics including:

• Selecting corporate partners aligned to your startup or innovation
• Tailoring communications to meet the expectations of partners
• Managing outreach at different stages of development; and
• Maintaining positive relationships once a deal has been signed

Vjera Magdalenic-Moussavi, Director of Industry Partnerships and Commercialisation, Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College London, said: “We’re delighted to have hosted Johnson & Johnson Innovation at our White City Campus for this insightful event, which brought together hundreds of impact-makers from across Europe. Discussions focused on practical advice to help innovators understand expectations, select potential partners, and accelerate development towards deals – all in service of creating better healthcare outcomes.”

Imperial’s innovation ecosystem is supported by Imperial Enterprise, which through its Industry Partnerships and Commercialisation team supports academics, researchers and students to explore the translation of research into practice through collaboration, partnering, licensing or company formation.