A research partnership between the Victorian Government, Johnson & Johnson Innovation LLC and Monash University has received a major boost.
The partnership also continues to kick goals, making major research progress in Melbourne.
Minister for Innovation, Medical Research and the Digital Economy, Jaala Pulford, has announced that the Johnson & Johnson Innovation Partnering Office at Monash, has been extended for a further two years.
The partnership, first launched in 2018, has provided a platform for translating life-science research into commercial outcomes.
Victorian researchers and companies have leveraged the partnership, gaining access to the expertise across Johnson & Johnson’s scientist research, investor and commercial business arms.
One key project being supported is the development of a solution to reduce the likelihood of hemorrhaging in pregnant women in developing countries.
Monash University researchers have been advancing the development of a life-saving therapy to prevent and manage postpartum haemorrhage (PPH) – a condition of excessive blood loss after birth, and the leading cause of maternal mortality globally.
Most deaths resulting from PPH could be avoided if access to suitable treatments were available.
While an intramuscular or intravenous injection of oxytocin is the current standard of care recommended by the World Health Organisation (WHO), accessibility to quality oxytocin in resource-poor settings is limited as these products require supply and storage under refrigerated conditions.
In response, a novel method for the delivery of a powdered form of oxytocin, which can be simply inhaled and will require no refrigeration, is being developed within the partnership.
The outcome is a potential lifesaver, with PPH resulting in an estimated 60,000 deaths per year, overwhelmingly in the poorest countries of the world.
The Johnson & Johnson Innovation Partnering Office, one of only three Partnering Offices in the world, enables Victorian researchers and early-stage companies to work with experts from Johnson & Johnson Innovation LLC to deliver novel healthcare solutions.
It is an important part of the Victorian Government’s work to grow our medical technologies and pharmaceuticals sector – with the Government investing more than $580 million in medical research in the past year, including $400 million for a new Australian Institute of Infectious Diseases.
The Government has separately created a $2 billion Breakthrough Victoria Fund to back the next generation of research and innovation and drive jobs growth.
Victoria attracts more than 40 per cent of Australia’s medical research funding and Victorian medical technology and pharmaceutical companies spend almost $1 billion on research every year.
To contact JJIPO@Monash or for further details on the PPH project, contact jjinnovation.partnering@monash.edu.
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