Johnson & Johnson Innovation Names Awardees in the Innovations for Vets QuickFire Challenge: Lung Cancer & Physical Trauma
November 9, 2022 — Johnson & Johnson Innovation, together with Johnson & Johnson Office of Military and Veterans Affairs, announced that AmacaThera, Hawkeye Bio, Inc., Garwood Medical Devices, LLC, Immunophotonics, Limax Biosciences, and Nanochon have been selected as the awardees in the Innovations for Vets QuickFire Challenge: Lung Cancer & Physical Trauma.
The challenge invited innovators to submit potentially groundbreaking ideas that aim to directly address the unique healthcare needs of the military community.
The innovators will receive grant funding from a total pool of $500,000 and mentorship from the experts across the Johnson & Johnson Family of Companies.*
Focus Area: Lung Cancer
- AmacaThera is a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing advanced injectable biomaterials for local, sustained delivery of oncology therapeutics with the aim to treat unresectable lung cancers and other high unmet need cancers that could benefit from a local delivery approach
- Hawkeye Bio, Inc. is focused on the development of non-invasive diagnostic biosensors with the aim to detect lung cancer early enough to be treated successfully and to monitor patients after treatment to head off recurrence.
- Immunophotonics is developing an intra-tumoral drug IP-001 that has the potential to elicit a systemic immunity against cancer when combined with various tumoricidal therapies.
Focus Area: Physical Trauma
- Garwood Medical Devices, LLC is developing BioPrax, a transformational technology for infection prevention and treatment that aims to create a bactericidal electrochemical reaction on the full surface of metallic implants that produces hydrogen peroxide and hydroxide ions, raising the pH in a microenvironment around the implant, even where it meets tissue and bone.
- Limax Biosciences has developed a next generation, stretchable hydrogel-based tissue adhesive.
- Nanochon is developing a minimally invasive implant for regenerating surface cartilage in the knee, focused on traumatic and osteoarthritic damage.
The QuickFire Challenges are managed by Johnson & Johnson Innovation—JLABS, with the goal to help address today’s greatest health care challenges.
* Subject to the execution of the necessary (award) agreements and documentation
About Johnson & Johnson Innovation
Johnson & Johnson Innovation, LLC focuses on accelerating all stages of innovation worldwide and forming collaborations between entrepreneurs and Johnson & Johnson’s global healthcare businesses. Johnson & Johnson Innovation provides scientists, entrepreneurs and emerging companies with one-stop access to science and technology experts who can facilitate collaborations across the pharmaceutical, medical device and consumer companies of Johnson & Johnson. Under the Johnson & Johnson Innovation umbrella of businesses, we connect with innovators through our regional Innovation Centers; Johnson & Johnson Innovation—JLABS; Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JJDC, Inc.; and our business development teams to create customized deals and novel collaborations that speed development of innovations to solve unmet needs in patients. JLABS provides the laboratories, expertise, education, tools and resources needed to help life science startups thrive, all with no strings attached. A Johnson & Johnson Innovation Center for Device Innovation at the Texas Medical Center (CDI @ TMC) has been established to accelerate the development of medical devices. For more information about Johnson & Johnson Innovation, please visit: www.jnjinnovation.com.
