The winners were selected on the
basis of four main criteria: innovativeness, wealth
creation, degree of execution and alignment with
the company’s strategy.
Bart Somers, First Minister of the Flemish Government,
presented the awards to the seven winners. |
Flanders promotes innovation,
Janssen Pharmaceutica sets the pace
With its Innovation Pact, the Flemish
government aims to ensure that by 2010 Flanders
invests 3% of its gross regional product (GRP)
in R&D, with 2% from the private sector and
1% from the government. That was agreed at the
Lisbon Summit of the European Union. Accordingly,
the Flemish government has increased the R&D
component of its budget by 60 million euros. Flanders
has a strong track record in R&D from the
European perspective and is currently already
investing 2.4 % of its GRP in that sector.
During the Enterprise Conference, which wound
up earlier this week, the Flemish government decided
to drastically step up its efforts so that Flanders
will be able to achieve the goal of the Lisbon
Summit in 2007, three years earlier than the stipulated
date of 2010.
The First Minister also emphasized the importance
of Janssen Pharmaceutica in this overall scenario,
pointing out that the company’s estimated
investment of 857 million euros in 2003 is 50
million euros up over 2002.
Of the approximately 5,000 patent applications
submitted over the past ten years by Flemings,
65% are registered in the name of the Top 20 Flemish
enterprises, and Janssen Pharmaceutica ranks second
among these.
If we want to create a real knowledge economy
in Flanders, even more companies must invest in
innovation. The Flemish government is working
on a number of instruments designed to make innovation
more attractive.
Dr. Ajit Shetty, Managing Director of Janssen
Pharmaceutica, stressed that the legacy of Dr.
Paul Janssen is in good hands. The pharmaceutical
division of Johnson & Johnson, of which Janssen
Pharmaceutica and Janssen-Cilag form the greatest
part, is the fourth largest in the world
by sales volume and the third
largest by the number of new drugs in the pipeline
(123). He said that this success was driven
by the culture of innovation in the company, which
encourages creativity and daring at all levels.
Within the Johnson & Johnson group, Janssen
Pharmaceutica is a worldwide Center of
Excellence for integrated R&D, production
and general services. In Belgium, the company
has sites in Beerse, Geel and Olen. It has a workforce
of 4,234 persons, who, along with the more than
250 staff members of Janssen-Cilag in Berchem,
are responsible for the Belgian and Luxemburg
markets. With more than 80 drugs to its credit,
the company is one of the most innovative in the
world and its products are used worldwide in human
and animal medicine and plant and material protection.
The company is active in diverse areas, including
gastroenterology, central nervous system disorders,
oncology, pain control and infectious diseases. |
