Rewriting the story of prostate cancer at J&J

Learn how Victor Villalobos and the team at Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicine are reimagining what’s possible in healthcare, delivering transformative medicines—and accelerating a healthier future for all.

Innovative medicine for real-world impact

Prostate cancer is the second-leading cause of cancer death in American men, accounting for more than 35,000 deaths in the U.S. annually. But Victor and his team at Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicine are out to change that.

“A lot of drugs can help control prostate cancer, but not cure it,” Victor explains. “I’m running a clinical team that’s dedicated to bringing out safe, reliable and truly transformational drugs that can help patients with prostate cancer, and to defining new standards of care for patients during all stages of disease.”

Of course, breakthrough innovation of this kind requires thinking differently, which is why our Innovative Medicine team is reimagining research, development and delivery processes from end to end.

“We’re leading where medicine is going,” Victor says. “We’re working on drugs that utilize the body’s immune system to kill cancer cells, without causing a lot of toxicity. This is an opportunity to change the lives of patients.”

Inclusive, patient-driven innovation

Our Innovative Medicine team is inspired by people as much as by science. For Victor, that means ensuring you see yourself reflected in our science, our clinical data and the outcomes we’re driving.

Increasing diversity in clinical trials is a case in point.

“We recently awarded about $2 million in grants to investigate how we can most effectively enhance minority enrollment in early development trials,” Victor says, citing one example of that work, which he views as an extension of our culture.

“Johnson & Johnson is an inclusive workplace where your voice will be heard, your opinion will be respected and your perspective will be valued, regardless of what your title might be,” Victor says. “Everyone here is empowered to be their authentic selves every day.”

Unmatched opportunities for impact

Victor is a physician scientist with both an M.D. and a Ph.D. “I trained for a long time,” he says with a grin.

As a result, he’s especially attuned to the differences between what’s possible with a career at Johnson & Johnson compared to academia.

“In academia,” Victor says, “you’re surrounded by brilliant and hardworking people, but often their focus can be spread amongst many projects and the grant writing associated with them, not to mention the myriad other responsibilities—clinical, administrative roles, academic committees, teaching responsibilities—so everyone’s work can wind up developing on parallel tracks.”

By contrast: “At Johnson & Johnson, you’re part of an awesome team of people who are all working toward a shared mission: developing groundbreaking new drugs and ensuring that patients and physicians have access to them.”

Victor adds, “You’re also supported by an entirely different level of resources,” including an investment of more than $15 billion in cutting-edge R&D last year alone.