Dear Colleagues,

 

As you may already know, on November 1, 2018 Penn and Johnson & Johnson officially opened the JPOD@Philadelphia right here at our Pennovation Center. This begins, what I hope will be a dramatic change in our ability to support start-up companies emanating from Penn and the Philadelphia Region within the medical device, pharmaceutical, digital health, and healthcare consumer products areas. It also represents an opportunity to create more and deeper faculty engagements with Johnson & Johnson.

 

I am pleased to also announce that we have hired our new program manager of the JPOD@Philadelphia, Olivia McPherson, who reports directly to my Office. Olivia’s contact information is below for those of you interested in engaging with this exciting new resource.

 

I want to take a moment and briefly describe what the JPOD@Philadelphia is and how best you can engage with it. I am also attaching a one-page flyer developed by Johnson & Johnson that also helps to explain our new resource.

What is a JPOD?

JPOD@Philadelphia is a virtual networking hub designed to connect promising life science companies to the expertise, mentorship, and resources of the greater JLABS incubation environment through an exclusive cohort model.  It is a private meeting space, complete with state-of-the-art video conferencing, located in the Pennovation Center. This telepresence makes accessible:

 

• Exclusive content broadcast from international JLABS sites
• Mentor matchmaking and subsequent meetings based on your company’s needs
• Hosted office hours with select vendors and venture capital firms
• Opportunities to meet virtually and in-person with content experts from Johnson & Johnson

Who is JPOD@Philadelphia for?

Short answer, it’s for the Greater Philadelphia Region. However, I am confident that it will have a significant impact at Penn. Most of the educational programming is open to anyone, i.e., Penn and the region, but some of the select courses are reserved for companies accepted into the start-up company cohort program. Topics range from planning regulatory strategies, to pitch practice, to the basics of business development and more. While other JLABS sites require residency, we do not. We do not compete with local lab spaces allowing for companies to make decisions based on their needs and preferences, with an eye towards local talent retention.

 

Is it really “No Strings Attached”?

Absolutely.  At no point will Johnson & Johnson request confidential information, take an equity stake, or retain rights of first refusal.  One of the outstanding features of the program is that Johnson & Johnson Innovation regularly offers office hours with the venture arms of their competitors, including Novartis, Pfizer, and Merck, as well as a stable of hundreds of venture capital firms from around the globe.  It’s about supporting the best science, and companies are free to pursue all avenues of progress.

 

What are the company acceptance criteria?

Companies accepted into the JPOD program are chosen by a panel of Johnson & Johnson content experts based on the following criteria:

 

• Compelling and credible science and/or technology
• Addressing an area of significant unmet medical or market need
• Demonstrating a strong team and financial solvency

 

With that said, seven companies have already been accepted into the JPOD@Philadelphia cohort and are receiving all the benefits detailed herein. All seven of the inaugural cohort are either Penn-founded or Pennovation Center member companies and have ties to three of our schools (PSOM, SEAS, and SAS). There is no limit on the number of companies that can be in the cohort, so I am looking forward to seeing many more of our companies from across all our schools apply. The requirement is that your company must, at minimum, be incorporated.  All applicants receive expert feedback on their submissions, and companies that get a pass are encouraged to reapply down the line.

 

For more information, insight into the application process, programming, and site visits, please contact Olivia at the information below and visit https://jlabs.jnjinnovation.com/locations/jpod-philadelphia.

 

Olivia McPherson

Program Manager, JPOD@Philadelphia

Olivia.McPherson@upenn.edu

Office is Mobile: (267) 990-8287

Twitter - @oliviammcphers1

 

 

It’s about the best science. Ready to apply?

http://apply.jlabs.jnjinnovation.com/