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Google to Join Forces With Sanofi to Monitor and Treat Diabetes

Accepted submission by takyon at 2015-08-31 14:54:33
Business

MarketWatch reports that Google's Life Sciences division, which will be separate from Google Inc. under Alphabet [soylentnews.org], is teaming up with Sanofi [wikipedia.org] to work on new devices and treatments for diabetes [marketwatch.com]:

Google Inc. said Monday its health-care-research unit agreed to work with European pharmaceutical major Sanofi SA on new ways to monitor and treat diabetes. The companies declined to say how much they are investing in the partnership.

Sanofi is a leading maker of diabetes medication, as well as many other drugs. Google's Life Sciences division is working on small, connected medical devices to continuously collect diabetes-related data, as well as software that learns from the information to find new treatments. Diabetes is expected to affect 592 million people world-wide by 2035, according to the International Diabetes Federation.

Diabetes affects around 382 million people worldwide today, so it is expected to increase by 55% over 20 years. More from Bloomberg [bloomberg.com]:

Google last year agreed to work with Novartis to develop contact lenses that use tiny sensors to read blood-sugar levels from tears. Tests on that product will begin next year, Conrad said. This month, Google also said it would work with DexCom on a bandage-sized sensor connected to the cloud. Sanofi, the maker of Lantus, the world's best-selling insulin, will work on new ways of delivering the hormone, such as Bluetooth-enabled pens that let a physician monitor how much insulin their patient is using, and when.

"That's the system that we're endeavoring to build: smart insulin delivery devices, smart measurement devices, and an interface and an integrating platform that helps physicians and patients see how they're doing," said Conrad, whose division will be renamed in the coming months as a unit of Google's new holding company, Alphabet Inc.

As long as it's not a diabetes cure, that's a very attractive market.


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