Janssen Korea Ltd. and Johnson & Johnson Innovation LLC have announced the launch of the Seoul Innovation QuickFire Challenge for Healthcare in the New Normal in collaboration with the Seoul Metropolitan Government (SMG) and the Korea Health Industry Development Institute (KHIDI).

The challenge invites innovators from around the world to submit ideas aiming to address and enable potential healthcare solutions for these challenging times. 

Specific areas of interest include:

• Health technologies including big data, artificial intelligence, and block chain
• E-health platforms that can improve the patient journey, empowering decision making for physicians and leading to better patient outcomes
• Rapid diagnostics for early detection and monitoring of rare diseases – in particular for Pulmonary Hypertension (PH)
• Companion diagnostics for oncology
• Smart systems for vaccine distribution and patient adherence

Up to two awardees will receive up to KRW150,000,000 (approximately US$125,000) in grant funding, one year of residency at the Seoul Bio Hub, and access to mentorship, programming, and resources from the Johnson & Johnson Innovation - JLABS ecosystem.

The QuickFire Challenge aims to advance breakthrough innovations by combining Johnson & Johnson Innovation's unique vision for collaboration in an open innovation model with the Seoul Metropolitan Government's efforts to drive innovation and commercialize its research outcomes; KHIDI's professional and systems-building support; and the Seoul Bio Hub's ability to accelerate the development and commercialization of potential early-stage, life-science solutions.