Toronto, Ontario, September 21, 2015 – The Ontario Bioscience Innovation Organization (OBIO®) is pleased to recognise Johnson & Johnson Innovation’s major contribution to Ontario’s human health bioscience ecosystem through the choice of Toronto as the first ex-US Johnson & Johnson Innovation, JLABS site. The JLABS incubator model is the highly successful creation of Johnson & Johnson Innovation and has been brought to Canada with the help of Janssen Inc. Known as JLABS @ Toronto, the site will join its fellow JLABS sites in San Diego, San Francisco, Boston and Houston.
“OBIO is working to build a sustainable biosciences industry in Ontario that addresses medical needs, creates jobs, attracts expertise, elevates health outcomes and builds a more prosperous economy,” said Gail Garland, CEO. “If we think of this effort using Jim Collin’s flywheel concept, the addition of an industry-run incubator like JLABS to our ecosystem has the potential to significantly build momentum by providing companies with much needed resources and the commercial development framework used by major players in the global healthcare industry. We see the positive effects of industry-run incubators in in other sectors and are excited by the strategic vision and opportunities JLABS @ Toronto will bring to Ontario’s early stage healthcare companies. “
About OBIO
The Ontario Bioscience Innovation Organization (OBIO®) is a not-for-profit, membership-based organization engaged in the development of an integrated health innovation economy for Ontario and one that will become a global leader in providing health technology products and services to the international marketplace. OBIO advances this goal through advocacy, promotion and strategic leadership and via collaborative partnerships with industry, academia, patients and government. For more information, visit the OBIO website www.obio.ca and follow OBIO on Twitter @OntBioscience.
OBIO Contact
Gail Garland
President and CEO
GailGarland@obio.ca
416-848-6839 ext. 101