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NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. — Health care giant Johnson & Johnson is sharpening its aim at the growing diabetes epidemic.
J&J said this week that it plans to debut the Diabetes Collaboration Zone, a cross-enterprise display of diabetes-focused products, solutions and resources, at the 2016 National Association of Chain Drug Stores Total Store Expo, which runs Aug. 6 to 9 at the Boston Convention Center.
The Diabetes Collaboration Zone (booth No. 741 at the NACDS Total Store Expo) will be staffed by a cross-functional team with a breadth of diabetes care expertise, ranging from product knowledge and behavioral science to technology and design.
“We believe that Johnson & Johnson is optimally positioned to address the diabetes challenge with the breadth and scale of our solutions to meet patient and consumer as well as health care provider needs,” stated Ty Lee, vice president of the Americas for Johnson & Johnson Diabetes Care Cos.
“However, no one enterprise can tackle this epidemic alone,” Lee noted. “We hope to create an environment where our industry can co-create solutions to best deliver meaningful support, with the goal of improved health outcomes, to people living with diabetes.”
J&J noted that it has been a leader in diabetes management and treatment for years, providing pharmaceuticals and diagnostic devices to support the needs of the diabetes patients and their caregivers. With the Diabetes Collaboration Zone, the company said it’s taking a different approach to marshal its medications, technology, knowledge and universe of diabetes care partners to tackle this disease.
“We’ve changed how we think about delivering care. We’re leveraging our resources and expertise to create a ‘One J&J’ approach to support the new Healthcare Ecosystem,” explained David Pothast, vice president of U.S. customer development at J&J. “As an industry, we must to continue to change how we think to better serve our patients. We look forward to collaborating to delivering against this important challenge.”
J&J described U.S. diabetes statistics as “sobering.” Citing figures from the American Diabetes Association, the company reported that almost 30 million Americans have diabetes, and an estimated 86 million more have prediabetes. In terms of dollar impact, the prevalence of the disease results in $322 billion in medical costs each year.
“Recognizing the rapid growth of this epidemic, Johnson & Johnson is taking a more holistic view of the challenge and leveraging its resources to develop new solutions,” according to Len Greer, vice president of J&J Health & Wellness Solutions. “Businesses across the J&J enterprise — from pharma and medical devices to healthand and wellness solutions and consumer — are partnering and mobilizing resources to understand how to better serve people with diabetes and bring greater focus on prevention.”
