Tag Archive for: Johnson & Johnson Innovation

happy children running with kite

Spurring innovation to support pediatric preparedness

happy children running with kite

There are many lessons to be learned from the response to the COVID-19 pandemic, but one that is at the forefront is to be prepared for anything and to strengthen readiness even in the unlikeliest circumstances.

This was the focus of a recent panel discussion featuring Lee Beers, M.D., F.A.A.P, medical director of Community Health and Advocacy within the Goldberg Center for Community Pediatric Health and Child Health Advocacy Institute at Children’s National Hospital. Dr. Beers is also president of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

The webinar entitled, “Protecting Our Future: Spurring Innovation to Support Pediatric Preparedness,” was hosted by Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JLABS (JLABS) as a product of BLUE KNIGHT™, a collaboration between JLABS and the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), a component of the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

This event focused on what innovators can do to develop therapeutics, diagnostics, vaccines and other technologies that may protect our future, our children. Experts shared what has been done to develop groundbreaking medical countermeasures that aim to prepare and protect pediatric populations from the health threats of today and those of tomorrow. The main discussions were on ecosystems readiness, adaptations for the pediatric population and the way forward in 2021.

“One size does not fit all for pediatrics when it comes to treatments and personal protective equipment,” said Dr. Beers “We need to know the need and how to do the roll-out.” Fellow panelists agreed.

Dr. Beers went on to say that mental health is the pandemic within the pandemic for our nation’s youth. There are increased cases and severity now for children who struggle to cope with the lockdowns. “We cannot have our children bear the burdens of our challenges.”

After robust questions and answers from everything from the role of artificial intelligence in preparing for future pandemics to the inclusion of families in research and decisions, the panelists walked away with a good feeling about the future with the unprecedented speed of vaccines aimed to counter the effects of the 2020 virus crisis.

The consensus priorities of 2021 should be to develop specifics for children and not just adaptations from adults, with the aim to advance equity, diversity and inclusion in treatment goals, and to build on the success of telemedicine.

Nationally, funding for pediatric research continues to trail efforts targeted for adults. That’s why Children’s National is creating a one-of-a-kind pediatric research and innovation hub. The Children’s National Research & Innovation Campus is set to open in 2021, located on a nearly 12-acre portion of the former Walter Reed Army Medical Center campus. The campus will combine the strengths of Children’s National with those of public and private partners who share the vision of accelerating new discoveries that save and improve the lives of children. At the new campus, breakthrough innovations can more quickly be translated into new treatments and technologies benefitting kids.

Sally Allain, Head of Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JLABS @ Washington, D.C., highlighted the opening of a 32,000 square-foot facility on the Research & Innovation Campus with a residency capacity for up to 50 companies. This will be the first JLABS site anchored with a children’s hospital and research institute working to bring recognition to the need for more early-stage research and innovation in pediatrics for our smallest patients.

The new site will serve as an incubator for pharmaceutical, medical device, consumer and health technology companies, and serve as the hub for BLUE KNIGHT™. BLUE KNIGHT™ aims to stimulate innovation and incubation of technologies that improve health security and response through companies focused on public health threats and emerging infectious diseases. At JLABS @ Washington, DC, companies selected for BLUE KNIGHT™ will have access to the JLABS ecosystem and being a part of the Research & Innovation Campus, as well as fee assistance for certain costs associated with access, mentorship for BARDA, and dedicated equipment for BLUE KNIGHT™ companies.

Julia Finkel

Two Children’s National spin-outs join Johnson & Johnson–JLABS

Julia Finkel

AlgometRx, which joins JPOD @ Philadelphia, was founded by Julia Finkel, M.D., pediatric anesthesiologist and director of Pain Medicine and Research at Children’s Sheikh Zayed Institute.

AlgometRx and Adipomics, two companies that spun out of innovations discovered at Children’s National Health System, have been selected by Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JLABS to join JPOD @ Philadelphia and JPOD @ Boston, respectively.

JLABS is a global network of no-strings-attached incubators for innovative companies from across the pharmaceutical, medical device, consumer and health technology sectors. Start-up companies are free to pursue their own research priorities independently, with access to state-of-the-art facilities to develop new drugs, medical devices, precision diagnostics and health technologies for people around the world.

Both companies got their start at the Sheikh Zayed Institute for Pediatric Surgical Innovation at Children’s National. The Institute focuses on research and innovation that can improve health for children everywhere.

AlgometRx, which joins JPOD @ Philadelphia, was founded by Julia Finkel, M.D., pediatric anesthesiologist and director of Pain Medicine and Research at Children’s Sheikh Zayed Institute. The AlgometRx device is a first-of-its-kind platform technology that aims to objectively measure pain intensity, type and drug effects in real time by capturing a digital image of a patient’s pupillary light response and applying a series of proprietary algorithms to various characteristics.

AlgometRx is designed to provide an objective pain measurement that aims to help physicians select the correct analgesic class of drug and dosage. By optimizing pain assessment, drug selection and drug management, AlgometRx aims to impact the opioid epidemic and the monitoring and management of Opioid Use Disorder.

Robert Freishtat and Evan Nadler

Adipomics, which joins JPOD @ Boston, was co-founded by Robert Freishtat, M.D., M.P.H., senior investigator in the Center for Genetic Medicine of the Children’s Research Institute and chief of the Division of Emergency Medicine at Children’s National, and pediatric surgeon Evan P. Nadler, M.D., co-director of the Obesity Program and director of the Bariatric Surgery Program at Children’s National.

Adipomics, which joins JPOD @ Boston, was co-founded by pediatric surgeon Evan P. Nadler, M.D., co-director of the Obesity Program and director of the Bariatric Surgery Program at Children’s National, and Robert Freishtat, M.D., M.P.H., senior investigator in the Center for Genetic Medicine of the Children’s Research Institute and chief of the Division of Emergency Medicine at Children’s National. Adipomics was founded with the aim to address the global epidemic of obesity-related diseases including Type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. World health experts predict that one billion people worldwide will be obese by 2030.

Drs. Nadler and Freishtat discovered that exosomes released from fat cells (adipocytes) carry genetic material that can mediate various diseases related to obesity. Through their research, they developed a proprietary method that aims to detect how obesity affects an individual patient’s metabolism before the onset of overt disease. Adipomics aims to create the first non-invasive, “anticipatory medicine” diagnostic that detects risk for obesity-related diseases prior to the onset of clinical signs or even biochemical abnormalities. If successful, this predictive methodology would enable treatment much earlier in the disease process, which is likely to improve effectiveness.

A recent news release from Children’s National provides more details on these innovations.

As organizations that share a commitment to improving the pace of healthcare innovation, Children’s National and Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JLABS also recently announced their collaboration to launch JLABS @ Washington, DC,  a 32,000-square foot facility to be located at the new Children’s National Research & Innovation Campus in Washington, D.C. The JLABS @ Washington, DC will have the capacity to house up to 50 pharmaceutical, medical device, consumer and health technology companies that are aiming to advance the development of new drugs, medical devices, precision diagnostics and health technologies, including applications in pediatrics. The campus is located on a 12-acre portion of the former Walter Reed Army Medical Center campus in the nation’s capital and is slated to open in 2020, coinciding with the 150th Anniversary of Children’s National Health System.