Bristol Myers Squibb Joins Liberty Science Center's SciTech Scity as Healthcare Innovation Lead Partner

JERSEY CITY, N.J., Dec. 11, 2023 – Today, Liberty Science Center announced global pharmaceutical leader Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS) is joining the Healthcare Innovation Engine effort as the Healthcare Innovation Lead Partner for the Biopharmaceutical Industry. BMS will work with the SciTech Scity team to identify how digital health devices can work in tandem with traditional pharmaceutical products to offer a more holistic and personalized approach to patient care. Alongside other industry leaders and community representatives, this partnership is designed to better understand and address the structural barriers to digital health adoption and identify priority areas for innovation. This work will be done with startup companies to test and validate specific products and solutions, and conduct joint research efforts with the SciTech Scity academic ecosystem to collect the data needed to support broader adoption.

After decades of progress, life expectancy in the United States has been decreasing since 2014. And while COVID, opioids and gun violence have contributed to this downward spiral, it is chronic diseases – heart disease, diabetes, hypertension, respiratory afflictions, liver and kidney disease and others – that are the greatest culprits. A year-long examination by the Washington Post found that chronic diseases are killing more than twice as many Americans under age 65 as overdoses, homicides, suicides and car accidents combined. This mortality crisis is exacerbated by the country’s economic and racial divides. People in the poorest areas are 61 percent more likely to die early.

In the face of this mounting health crisis, Liberty Science Center’s SciTech Scity has launched the Healthcare Innovation Engine to bring together public and private stakeholders to work towards revolutionary solutions that cater to the specific challenges of vulnerable populations with an eye toward disease prevention.

“At Bristol Myers Squibb our mission is to discover, develop and deliver innovative medicines that help patients prevail over serious diseases,” said Al Reba, Senior Vice President, US Cardiovascular & Established Brands at Bristol Myers Squibb and member of the Board of Trustees at LSC. “Digital health technology holds significant promise for transforming healthcare in America, particularly in underserved communities. That’s why we are partnering with Liberty Science Center on the groundbreaking SciTech Scity Healthcare Innovation Engine. By bringing our expertise and resources together with those of the engine’s other partners, we’re confident that we can spearhead bold solutions for a healthier country.”

“Bristol Myers Squibb's unparalleled expertise in different chronic disease areas places them at the forefront of innovation, uniquely positioned to bridge the gap between traditional pharmaceuticals and cutting-edge digital health solutions, ultimately redefining patient care,” said Paul Hoffman, President and CEO of Liberty Science Center and the visionary leader behind SciTech Scity.

Hoffman explained that the overwhelming driver of the enormous healthcare costs in the US come from “SICKcare,” reactive, mostly hospital-based, point-in-time interventions when diseases are very advanced. But he declared, “the paramount societal challenge we must focus on now is the transformation of our current SICKcare system to true HEALTHcare that detects illnesses in their infancy, or prevents illnesses entirely, through cost effective digital home health technology.”

With Bristol Myers Squibb as Healthcare Innovation Lead Partner at SciTech Scity, transformative digital health technology will be developed in conjunction with LSC’s expansive university partner network, including Princeton, NJIT, Stevens Institute of Technology, Rowan, and NYU. This technology can be vetted in a hospital-of-the-future simulation center being created at SciTech Scity by Israel's Sheba Medical Center, a world leader in healthcare innovation, and then tested in Scholars Village, the 500-unit residential housing at SciTech Scity. Controlled tests will also be conducted in nearby high- need communities to enhance the quality of healthcare services – all under the guidance of regulatory and governmental boards and agencies. Hudson County, where LSC is located, is New Jersey’s most densely populated and fastest-growing county, and also one of the most diverse counties in the entire US. It also ranks particularly high on measures of “health vulnerability” and needs innovative healthcare solutions.

“To advance the SICKcare-to-HEALTHcare vision, we are establishing a diverse ecosystem of partners, including universities, hospital systems, public health authorities, and pharmaceutical and medical technology companies,” Hoffman said. “Only through such a comprehensive, multi-disciplinary approach will we be able to transform a problem as pervasive as structural issues around healthcare access in America. So my deepest gratitude goes to Bristol Myers Squibb for agreeing to be Healthcare Innovation Lead Partner and bring their extensive knowledge and expertise.”

Bristol Myers Squibb joins EY in its leadership commitment to SciTech Scity’s Healthcare Innovation Engine. EY recently signed on as the Lead Orchestrator and will provide significant resources and a team of global experts to help operate the program.

SciTech Scity will also work closely with colleges and universities in New Jersey and neighboring states to advance real-world applications for cutting-edge science and technology. The 170,000-student and faculty academic ecosystem includes Fairleigh Dickinson, Hudson County Community College, NJIT, NYU Tandon School of Engineering, Princeton, Rowan, Rutgers, and Stevens Institute of Technology. These institutions will showcase their most important innovations and promote their research and talent to the venture capital and corporate innovation communities.

About SciTech Scity
Liberty Science Center is developing a “Science City of Tomorrow” in Jersey City—a 30-acre innovation campus called SciTech Scity devoted to using science and technology to address humanity’s greatest challenges, from inadequate healthcare to climate change, and create a better future for all of us. The new campus, including the existing Liberty Science Center, home of the largest planetarium in the Western Hemisphere, will be officially named the Frank J. Guarini Innovation Campus and is scheduled to open in 2025 and 2026.

SciTech Scity will include $450 million of new construction: Edge Works, an eight-story business- creation center with laboratories, R&D spaces, office suites, co-working spaces, a tech exhibition gallery, and a state-of-the-art conference center; Scholars Village, 500 apartments built and operated by Alpine Residential for innovators, scientists, entrepreneurs, and other tech-forward individuals and families; Liberty Science Center High School, a new public magnet STEM high school built by the Hudson County Improvement Authority and operated by the Hudson County Schools of Technology; and Public Commons, three acres of outdoor space for art installations, food trucks, performances, farmers markets, science festivals, and maker fairs.

Learn more at SciTechScity.com.

About Liberty Science Center
Liberty Science Center (LSC.org) is a 300,000-square-foot, not-for-profit learning center located in Liberty State Park on the Jersey City bank of the Hudson near the Statue of Liberty. Dedicated to inspiring the next generation of scientists and engineers and bringing the power, promise, and pure fun of science and technology to learners of all ages, Liberty Science Center houses the largest planetarium in the Western Hemisphere, 12 museum exhibition halls, a live animal collection with 110 species, giant aquariums, a 3D theater, live simulcast surgeries, a tornado-force wind simulator, K-12 classrooms and labs, and teacher-development programs. More than 250,000 students visit the Science Center each year, and tens of thousands more participate in the Center’s off-site and online programs. Welcoming more than 750,000 visitors annually, LSC is the largest cultural institution in New Jersey and the largest interactive science center in the NYC-NJ metropolitan area.