From left: Julie Brooker, Country Director at Janssen, Henning Langberg, Chief Innovation Officer at Rigshospitalet, and Sven Dohmann, Country Director at Johnson & Johnson MedTech.
Rigshospitalet announced today that it has entered into a strategic partnership with Janssen Pharmaceutica NV, one of the Janssen pharmaceutical companies of Johnson & Johnson, to explore and develop evidence-based solutions to clinical needs.
This partnership brings together the world-class clinicians of Rigshospitalet with the expertise, know-how, experience, size and reach of one of the world's largest healthcare companies, and includes collaborations with both its pharmaceutical and MedTech businesses[1].
The goal is to improve health outcomes for patients by accelerating research and real-world data generation and analysis.
Essential to partner with industry
Rigshospitalet has established an Innovation Centre which works to identify needs and develop, validate, and scale health solutions across all the highly specialized departments. With the ambition of being a global frontrunner, Rigshospitalet invites private companies to collaborate on developing the healthcare solutions of the future.
“It is essential that we work with industry to tackle the complex challenges we are facing," said Henning Langberg, Chief Innovation Officer at Rigshospitalet's Innovation Centre.
“A collaboration like this can release more ´warm hands´, as we look to innovate and implement solutions that would transform the future of healthcare, which will become increasingly digital and will focus even more on prevention and home-based treatment and care," Langberg continued.
Denmark on the global map
Langberg added that Rigshospitalet is excited to join forces with a company that has a clear investment strategy and commitment to EMEA with research and development, advances in interventional medical solutions, and the aspiration to transform lives by changing the way diseases are managed and prevented.
“This strategic partnership will put Rigshospitalet and Denmark on the global map even more firmly than we are today and co-create solutions that could benefit patients across the world," said Langberg.
The collaboration is in line with the national life science strategy that was launched by the government in April this year and highlights the necessity of public-private partnerships to support innovation and – among other things – make better use of health data.
An initial area of focus is oncology, in which the partners will work together to gather and analyze health data – while respecting all privacy rules and regulations – to improve treatment of lung cancer, which is Denmark's most prevalent type of cancer and caused the most cancer-related deaths in Europe in 2020.
Professor Ulrik Lassen, Chief Physician at Rigshospitalet's Oncology Department, said:
“Our shared goal is discovering why treatment works for some patients but not for others, so we can tailor it even more precisely going forward. With our extensive health data, we can gather robust insights that will give us greater clarity on the barriers preventing optimal delivery of care, which will ultimately help us improve patients' treatment in the future."
The partnership also includes a collaboration with Johnson & Johnson MedTech to enhance patient care in surgery.
“Patients with malformations, traumas, or cancer deserve the best possible treatment. We need custom solutions, and to deliver these effectively to our patients, we must form partnerships with actors who are the best in the field. We are constantly working on optimizing and securing effective and safe treatments that improve the quality of life for our patients, which is what it is all about" said Thomas Kofod, Head of Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery.
Only the beginning
However, these two projects are only the start of the collaboration, which aims to expand into multiple projects and disease areas of joint interest.
“We want to develop a long-standing relationship with the shared ambition of undertaking innovative research projects that benefit both patients and health systems. The partnership is an important part of enabling the trust and transparency, which is essential for the industry and the healthcare system to work together on even more areas – with better patient care always as our North Star," said Langberg.
The partnership agreement is part of an overall strategy at Rigshospitalet: To form collaborations with private companies to gain and share evidence and expertise and ensure that new results and treatments benefit both national and international patients. Therefore, the agreement is non-exclusive which means that Rigshospitalet freely can establish partnerships with other companies.
[1] Represented respectively by Janssen-Cilag Denmark, Janssen Pharmaceutica NV and by Johnson & Johnson MedTech, Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA).