When Melinda Richter started her career with the large telecommunications company Nortel, her focus was on, among other things, figuring out how to buy pop drinks from vending machines with cell phones. But after developing a severe case of meningitis while working in China — and realizing how much unmet medical need there was there — she turned her business acumen towards fostering the creation of life science start-ups that could develop new drugs. To this end, she joined up with Johnson & Johnson in 2012 to launch a network of incubators. For Richter, head of JLABS at J&J Innovation, this offered a clear win-win strategy. Start-ups benefit from no strings attached access to J&J expertise, while J&J gains revitalizing exposure to emerging science and entrepreneurial enthusiasm. Five years on, JLABS has just announced plans to launch its ninth incubator, in New York City. Richter spoke with Asher Mullard about the network's success to date and her plans for its future.
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Melinda Richter. Nat Rev Drug Discov 16, 158–159 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrd.2017.41
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrd.2017.41
