February 12, 2015
By Alex Keown, BioSpace.com Breaking News Staff
RARITAN, N.J. -- Janssen Research & Development, LLC, is setting its sights on preventing chronic, non-communicable diseases before they even get diagnosed in patients with the establishment of three next-generation research platforms, the company announced Thursday.
To identify and prevent disease, Janssen, a division of Johnson & Johnson , established the Jannsen Prevention Center, the Disease Interception Accelerator and the Janssen Human Microbiome Institute, that are focused on disease prevention, disease interception, and the microbiome areas of transformational medical innovation.
William Hait, head of Janssen R&D, said the future of healthcare will “increasingly depend on identifying and correctly interpreting the earliest signals of disease susceptibility, preventing or intercepting disease before it even begins.”
The prevention center will aim its research at illnesses that typically impact aging populations, such as Alzheimer’s, cancer and heart disease. The hope is that people, who are living much longer than before, will be able to enjoy their senior years without being plagued by health issues. Scientists and researchers at the prevention center will build upon the work in vaccines done by the former Crucell Vaccine Institute, a group formed in 2011 following the acquisition of Crucell by Johnson & Johnson.
Janssen officials describe the Disease Interception Accelerator as an “incubator-like group” that will address the root causes of disease. Benjamin Wiegand, head of research and development at the accelerator, said they will focus on causes of disease, including genetic predisposition, environmental exposure and phenotypic alterations, and attempt to develop means to prevent those illnesses, which include cancers and type 1 diabetes. Type 1 diabetes is a hormonal disorder that can be expensive to treat and can lead to blindness, amputations and death.
Researchers will utilize a combination of traditional pharmaceutical and other, non-pharmaceutical approaches to intercept disease progression for at-risk populations.
The Human Microbiome Institute will focus on understanding the microbiome, the bacteria living in and on the human body, in order to gain a stronger understanding of its role in disease. Researchers will study new therapies to address autoimmune diseases. In January Janssen entered into a $241 million agreement with Vedanta Biosciences to develop that the microbiome pharmaceutical candidate (VE202), which would be used in the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease.
Janssen develops medicines and solutions in five distinct therapeutic areas: Neuroscience, Oncology, Immunology, Infectious Diseases and Vaccines, and Cardiovascular and Metabolism.
Johnson & Johnson, based in New Brunswick, N.J., is a leading maker of diagnostic tests, vaccines, surgical equipment, prescription pills, injected biologic medicines and consumer health products.
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