J&J and Fraunhofer in healthcare alliance

The Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft and the healthcare group Johnson & Johnson launched a joint programme of healthcare research focused on improving the diagnosis and treatment of disease.

The Exploratory Healthcare Research Programme aims to accelerate research and development in the sector,” said Hans-Jörg Bullinger, President of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft. This is the first time Fraunhofer has won the backing of a global player. “We see this as a new model for efficient cooperation between Fraunhofer and industry,” Bullinger said. “Once we have gained some experience from working with Johnson & Johnson, we may quite possibly enter into partnerships in other fields.”

While Johnson & Johnson will be giving financial and technical support it will not claim legal rights to any of the research findings or patents.

The programme has initial funding of $500,000 U.S. dollars in funding to support five or six projects with a budget of up to $100,000 each. The research topics will be chosen jointly by the two partners. The pre-clinical stage studies will aim to develop new methods for diagnosing and treating kidney and lung complaints and diseases of the eyes and ears. The development of minimally invasive surgical techniques is an area of particular interest.

The Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft will retain the legal rights to the research findings. After evaluating the programme at the end of the year, the two partners will decide whether to pursue it any further and, if so, whether to allocate more funds.