NJ Positioned to be a Global Leader as AI Revolutionizes Medical Innovation

On Jun 18, 2025

New Jersey has long been recognized as the “Medicine Chest of the World” and ranks as the ninth largest med-tech hub in the nation by revenue, often described as the “backbone” of the healthcare industry. For nearly 150 years, the state has been a pivotal place on Earth for saving lives and improving the quality of life for patients, families, and loved ones around the globe. Our extensive, proud, and illustrious history of global leadership stretches from Thomas Edison opening his laboratory in Menlo Park in 1876, to Johnson & Johnson establishing its presence in New Brunswick in 1886, to Bell Labs beginning operations in Murray Hill in 1967. The crown jewel of these transformative milestones – which also represents the beating heart of New Jersey’s workforce and economy – is our vibrant and robust life sciences ecosystem. Our state’s medical technology, biotech, diagnostics, pharmaceuticals, and medical device companies have been at the forefront of groundbreaking medical innovations that have transformed global health, enabling patients to live longer, experience less pain, and enjoy greater independence, all while improving their quality of life. We are saving lives worldwide by discovering new treatments and cures right here in New Jersey.

For well over a century, these and other life sciences companies have driven remarkable medical advancements that have led to new treatments and cures for some of the world’s most feared diseases. With more scientists and engineers per square mile than anywhere else, our achievements over the past two decades are astonishing: curing hepatitis C, developing a vaccine for cervical cancer, introducing the first therapy to delay the onset of Alzheimer’s, providing COVID-19 diagnostics, treatments, and vaccines, pioneering cell-based gene therapies for sickle cell disease, and making life-saving advancements in HIV/AIDS treatments – the list goes on. These companies are working at breakneck speed to discover new treatments and cures for common diseases like diabetes, rare diseases such as Pompe disease and Non-Hodgkin lymphoma, and various forms of cancer.

Drug discovery remains a highly risky and expensive endeavor. Only one in every 5,000 researched compounds reaches the market after a development process lasting 10 to 15 years, with an average cost of $2.6 billion. Nevertheless, recent achievements and cutting-edge advancements in research and technology suggest that we are on the brink of even more remarkable medical progress than was imaginable just a few years ago. With the involvement of artificial intelligence (AI), the possibilities expand even further. 

Artificial Intelligence

While the world is awakening to these AI possibilities, the life sciences, the federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and relevant state agencies have been examining, developing, and approving AI-driven technologies and treatments for nearly 30 years in ethical, responsible ways that have enhanced our industry’s ability to transform medical care and increase its life-saving capabilities. 

For instance, the FDA has reviewed and authorized over 700 AI and machine learning (ML) medical devices – a figure that continues to increase. Currently, more than 80% of medical technology products on the market that utilize AI/ML perform diagnostic functions to aid clinicians in making decisions regarding diagnoses or treatment pathways, offering clinicians improved data and imaging results. 

As we’ve navigated this powerful technology, our industry has consistently considered and adhered to the federal and state policies and regulations governing medical privacy. This adherence has enabled us to transform patient care and enhance our life-saving capabilities in a responsible and ethical manner. AI builds upon existing technology that is governed by stringent privacy, ethical, safety, and cybersecurity standards.

AI’s Life-Saving Role

AI is having a revolutionary impact on every aspect of life. Within the medical innovation community, it is transforming research and development, diagnostic therapeutics, drug discovery, and even customer support. Here are just some of the ways in which AI/ML accelerates advances in how we find new medical solutions:

• Exponentially faster data processing speeds up the discovery of new medicines by analyzing vast amounts of aggregated data more swiftly and efficiently than humans can.
• AI and ML help medical practitioners gain a better understanding of diseases, resulting in faster and more accurate diagnostic outcomes and enabling the determination of more efficient treatment pathways.
• These technologies perform thorough analyses of operating rooms, identifying methods to enhance efficiency, resulting in improved patient outcomes and increased physician learning and practice.
• AI/ML-assisted robotic surgery improves surgical outcomes.
• Clinical trial recruitment becomes more targeted by better identifying patient populations, geographies, concentrations, and disease state clusters and intersecting them with research hospital and life sciences company trial needs.
• It allows for more personalized care by focusing on specific treatments and speeding up clinical trial enrollment.
• AI/ML helps expedite workflow by allowing more clinicians to spend more time at the bedside. This matters because, by 2030, approximately 80 million Americans will be enrolled in Medicare, as the US population ages rapidly and there are not enough medical practitioners to care for them.
• AI and machine learning improve smart manufacturing and distribution networks in our supply chain, minimizing bottlenecks.

The Regulatory Environment

It’s crucial to acknowledge that the AI-driven innovations in life sciences over the past 30 years have only flourished due to the stringent yet predictable regulatory system that the FDA applies to these advanced diagnostics, medicines, devices, and technologies. Additionally, the responsible and ethical manner in which the life sciences sector has adhered to FDA regulations is essential as we research, develop, and deliver life-saving medical advancements to patients.

New Jersey is exceptionally positioned to continue leading the world in medical innovation by harnessing AI’s potential to discover new treatments, cures, and diagnostic tools that will save lives in New Jersey and around the globe. This initiative will also attract AI/ML investment and further enhance our state’s highly skilled, well-trained workforce and economy. New Jersey’s heritage as a center of healthcare innovation provides a solid foundation as we shape the next wave of AI-powered advancements. With one of the nation’s best K-12, vocational, higher education, and research universities creating a world-class education system, our state cultivates a talented workforce equipped to leverage AI for healthcare improvement. However, the manner in which the state approaches AI will determine how effectively New Jersey’s innovation ecosystem can engage with these powerful opportunities. 

AI Guiding Principles

We encourage policymakers to concentrate on several key guiding principles for the responsible and ethical use and implementation of AI:

• Ethics: The first guiding principle should be the ethical and responsible use of AI. Our industry has long adhered to standards and practices governed and regulated by the FDA and HIPAA to ensure patients’ medical privacy.
• Predictable, consistent, and rational regulation: New Jersey’s regulatory framework must find the right balance between ensuring adherence to the responsible and ethical standards mentioned earlier and maintaining a predictable, unified system that fosters AI-driven medical innovation. With these multinational companies operating across various states and countries, it is crucial for regulatory frameworks to be consistent and aligned with existing federal standards. We urge recognition of the FDA’s existing role in addressing AI, along with the patient protections provided by the FDA’s review process to prevent unnecessary confusion, avoid duplicate regulation, and ensure that patient access to lifesaving medical technology is not impeded. 
• Access to data: Data must be accessible throughout the healthcare ecosystem. This data will enable companies to analyze various data sets and test them across wide populations.
• Enhancing New Jersey’s highly trained, skilled workforce: The skillsets required in the healthcare workforce have been evolving and will undergo further changes. Our state’s workforce is well positioned to adapt to this shift. We would benefit from state investment in lifelong learning programs, providing the workforce with ongoing learning opportunities to embrace technological advancements and maximize the positive impact of AI. Additionally, we need more life science education and training programs to enhance the application and customization of technologies like AI to meet healthcare needs. 
• Privacy: Data privacy, protection, and cybersecurity are key to patient safety and critical to ensuring confidence in the system. Thus, systems are in place to protect against cyber threats and unauthorized access to personal information. However, as we’re dealing with not only private data concerning patient information, but also proprietary company information, stringent safeguards need to be in place to protect both patients and companies.
• Recognition of human oversight in AI: It is crucial to understand that AI in healthcare does not replace the decisions of clinicians or patients regarding diagnosis or treatment. It simply offers practitioners better and more informed data to assist in making medical decisions.
• Recognition of the FDA’s existing oversight: Lastly, the FDA has regulated the life sciences and its engagement with AI for nearly 30 years. Any state regulatory framework should avoid duplicative regulation so that these life-saving advances are not impeded.

New Jersey will benefit from a thoughtful and balanced approach as policymakers collectively consider AI and its transformative possibilities. Our life sciences community encourages all stakeholders to adopt this careful approach, so we can continue doing what we do best – saving lives around the world by discovering innovative cures right here in New Jersey. 

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