Johnson & Johnson (J&J)'s official opening of the new London Innovation Center (LIC) on October 3 was accompanied by the announcement of its first deals with biotech companies. LIC provides the New Brunswick, New Jersey–based pharma with a strategy for sourcing and in-licensing early-stage technology. Its “on-the-ground proximity” will help build the strong personal relationships that underlie successful deals, says head of LIC Patrick Verheyen. LIC is home to a team of scientific experts backed by the legal and commercial skills needed to complete a transaction. Its open door policy serves a dual purpose: it makes the company more approachable, and enables the company to identify and consummate deals across Europe. For Marcel Zwaal, CEO of DCPrime of Leiden, The Netherlands, which landed LIC as the first corporate partner for its dendritic cell cancer vaccine technology, dealing with LIC was refreshing. “It's good to avoid the fiefdoms in research and have one port of call,” Zwaal says. Similarly, Effimune of Nantes, France, which licensed its lead antibody fragment product, FR104, to the center found it a better experience than previous licensing forays. In other companies, “It's a major hurdle to reach the right person,” says Bernard Vanhove, Effimune's senior scientific adviser. Often, having identified whom to talk to, pharmas can be “paralyzed by their own indecision” whereas, “The London Innovation Centre has autonomy,” Vanhove says. Accompanying the London center in its innovation scouting mission will be counterparts in Boston; Menlo Park, California; and Shanghai, China. In addition, LIC has set up a satellite office at the Stevenage Bioscience Catalyst, a bioincubator based on GlaxoSmithKline's Stevenage research campus. Europe-based companies are not limited to deals with the London Center. At the beginning of November Evotec of Hamburg, Germany, announced a collaboration with the innovation center in California to identify new targets for Alzheimer's disease drug discovery. The deal is worth up to $155 million for each program.