JLABS Singapore Celebrates One Year of Advancing Healthcare Innovation

With the goal to unlock the innovation potential of emerging life sciences in the region, JLABS Singapore was launched in October 2023 in collaboration with the Singapore Economic Development Board (“EDB”). There were many accomplishments to celebrate at the JLABS Singapore 1-year Anniversary—a robust portfolio of high-potential companies developing breakthrough science and technology, and a strong team of experts, and local and regional partners including VCs, incubators and academia, to name just a few.

Singapore has risen as a global life science innovation leader, boasting a thriving ecosystem built on three decades of unwavering government support, a steady rise in research funding, and a commitment to nurturing world-class talent. JLABS Singapore continues to be a valuable asset to the global Johnson & Johnson community, serving as an exceptional tool for sourcing and connecting J&J with local innovators developing potentially transformative health solutions aligned to the company’s strategic interests. Our efforts are a testament to J&J’s ongoing commitment to the country as we also celebrate the 50th Anniversary of J&J in Singapore this year.

We sat down with Alessandro Falcone, Head JLABS Singapore, to talk about the achievements in the first 365 days of the journey and his prospects for the years to come.

Q: Can you tell us about the growth you’ve seen over the past year?

Alessandro Falcone: It’s been an incredible first year. We’ve selected a portfolio of 35 companies developing transformative health solutions across oncology, immunology, neuroscience and MedTech; 51% of the portfolio companies are local Singaporean companies, 49% have joined us from around the world. To accelerate their development, we have added 24 Singapore and APAC venture capital firms to the Global JLABS Investor Hub to provide more opportunities for local and regional investors to interact with our JLABS founders and CEOs. VerImmune, for example, a member company of both JLABS Singapore and JLABS @ Washington, DC, secured $4.5 million in the first closing of its Pre-Series A financing to support the development of its Virus-inspired Particle (ViP™) platform technology for cancer treatment. VerImmune announced a research agreement with J&J last year for leveraging its unique immuno-oncology therapeutic platform.

Additionally, the JLABS companies regularly connect with experts from Johnson & Johnson who offer mentorship with the aim of helping the companies reach commercialization milestones and advance their technologies to patients.

We remain committed to our collaborations with EDB, A*STAR, and Enterprise Singapore, and continue to engage with strategic partners in the ecosystem in furtherance of development opportunities for early-stage companies. To that end, JLABS Singapore established an Agreement with local life science incubator, co11ab, enabling our team to work with co11ab on the development of impactful programming and events for the ecosystem and our portfolio of companies.

I’m also proud of our strong team of world class talent, possessing expertise across life science research and development, investment, and marketing, who helped make the above achievements possible. It’s a testament to the growing strength of Singapore’s local life science ecosystem that we were able to recruit such valuable team members to hit the ground running and assist our portfolio companies in advancing so quickly.

Q: The anniversary event sounded like a fantastic celebration. Can you share some of the highlights?

Alessandro Falcone: The event was a wonderful opportunity to celebrate our collective achievements and look towards the future. We were joined by JLABS global and regional leaders, including Melinda Richter, Global Head of JLABS, and Sharon Chan, VP of JLABS Asia Pacific, R&D and commercial leaders from J&J, government and industry representatives from Singapore EDB, A*STAR and Enterprise Singapore, as well as portfolio company CEOs. A major highlight was hearing the inspiring Founder’s Stories from several of our JLABS Singapore companies. Learning about the inspiration behind their technologies and how JLABS has helped accelerate their journey was truly special. And of course, the launch of the Singapore QuickFire Challenge on Precision Immunology with the potential for non-dilutive awards up to US$200,000 generated a lot of excitement. This Challenge will provide crucial resources and support to promising startups working on targeted therapies for immune-mediated diseases.

Q: Looking ahead, what are your predictions for the future of innovation in the region, particularly in the healthcare sector?

Alessandro Falcone: I’m extremely optimistic. Singapore is rapidly transforming into a global hub for healthcare innovation, thanks to its strong government support, world-class talent, and robust infrastructure. Just recently, at the Singapore Week of Innovation and Technology (SWITCH) 2024 event, EDB and its local partner organizations announced three new initiatives that aim to catalyze the development of new and transformative solutions to elevate Singapore’s startup ecosystem.

The first is an addition of S$440m to the Startup SG Equity scheme, where the government co-invests with the private sector in innovative Singapore-based deep tech startups that have strong potential to scale globally. This enhancement will allow Singapore to attract and partner with an expanded pool of global, prominent VC firms to invest in such startups. Second, to support the development of more early-growth stage deep tech startups, the co-investment cap of the Startup SG Equity scheme has been increased from S$8 million to S$12 million for each startup. This increase will enable high-potential deep tech startups to access additional support in the early stages of their development and be better positioned to scale their solutions. The final initiative is a new one-stop platform “Stage One”, to be officially launched in Q1 2025 with a physical center, which will connect local and global tech startups under one roof and drive opportunities for collaboration between startups, corporates and innovation partners. Stage One will offer programs and services to help startups set up and establish their base from Singapore, drive capability building for business growth, and provide opportunities for market access and internationalization. Further information on the Startup SG Equity scheme and how to apply can be found here.

The success of JLABS Singapore, mirroring the achievements of our other regional JLABS in Shanghai and Korea, demonstrates the immense potential of this region and its innovators. I believe we’ll continue to see significant advancements in areas like precision medicine, next generation Car-T, platforms such as next-generation antibody drug conjugates (ADCs) with assets potential, AI/ML, large molecule and small molecule drugs which can revolutionize disease treatment. We are interested in sourcing transformative science in oncology, immunology, neuroscience and MedTech with significant unmet medical needs in the region. With Johnson & Johnson celebrating its 50th anniversary in Singapore, we’re excited to continue building on our strong foundation and contributing to the future of healthcare innovation in the region.

https://jnjinnovation.com/