Cell Therapy to AI: How J&J has been Sourcing the Transformational Science & Technology in China as the Partner of Choice
ChinaBio® Thought Leadership Interview Series with Dan Wang, Head, Johnson & Johnson Innovation Asia Pacific
Johnson & Johnson is doubling down on China’s biotech scene, betting that the next wave of novel assets and platform innovation—from cell therapies, antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) , to artificial intelligence (AI)-driven discovery—can help drive global pipeline success and deliver patient outcome.
"Innovation is not a monopoly," said Dan Wang, Head of Johnson & Johnson Innovation Asia Pacific. With an innovation center in Shanghai and three JLABS across Asia Pacific—including Shanghai, Singapore and Seoul—the company has built an all-stage collaboration model to tap into fast-moving biotech ecosystems. China is one of its largest footprint for early-stage innovation, where J&J is targeting quality over quantity.
At the heart of its China strategy is a dedicated team of early innovation partnering, transactors, and support staff spanning legal, finance, and communications. The goal is to identify BIC and FIC novel assets and platform technologies that can supercharge drug development across modalities.
That approach echoes a shift in J&J’s partnering mindset - Partner of Choice for external innovators. While the company's landmark chimeric antigen T-cell (CAR-T) partnership with Nanjing Legend Biotech remains a standout success, newer bets focus on next-generation platforms with global applicability.
Take its deal with Hangzhou DAC Biotechnology as an example. The Chinese biotech specializes in proprietary payload and linker technologies for ADCs. Under the agreement, DAC's technology will be applied to up to five Janssen antibodies to create novel ADCs with better safety and efficacy profiles. JJDC, Inc., J&J’s venture capital arm, also joined DAC’s Series C extension round, reinforcing its commitment to China-for-global innovation.
J&J is also diving deep into AI partnerships. Its collaboration with XtalPi leverages the latter’s digital drug discovery engine to shorten the Design-Make-Test-Analyze (DMTA) cycle and optimize hit identification.
"Leveraging AI in both small and large molecule discovery can significantly cut discovery timeline and can enhance clinical trial design," Wang noted.
Beyond platforms, J&J Innovation is expanding its Asia-Pacific dealmaking. It has partnered with WuXi Advanced Therapies to access the TESSA™ platform for high-yield AAV vector production, a key enabler for gene therapies. Partnered with Hitgen to screen its DNA-Encoded Libraries for a series of targets in different therapeutic areas. In Japan, the company licensed Kaken Pharmaceutical’s STAT6 inhibitor program, with KP-723 targeting autoimmune and allergic diseases. In Korea, the company partnered with Yuhan Corporation for the development of Lazertinib, a third-generation epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI). The other partnership is with Legochem Biosciences to develop and commercialize Trop2 targeted antibody drug conjugates (ADCs) LCB84.
The strategy is clear: scouting early-stage assets, exploring various collaboration models to address the partners’ needs, and bridging the best Chinese science to global markets. But that requires confidence in the quality of local data and the maturity of biotech startups.
"Let the data speak for itself," said Wang. While China's basic research output is booming, leading the world in scientific publications and patents, translational gaps remain. "We need to help young companies bridge from discovery to clinical development with global standards in mind."
For J&J, China isn’t just a market—it’s a source of globally competitive innovation. And with the right platforms in place, the next breakthrough may be born in a Shanghai lab and destined for the world.
“I am confident that China can export world-class assets to the world,” she concluded.