Products on sale would include connected objects such as insulin pens and online services
French drugmaker Sanofi and Google owner Alphabet’s life sciences firm Verily are to invest about $500 million in a diabetes joint venture combining devices with services, an example of growing ties between the pharma and tech sectors.
“The company will leverage Verily’s experience in miniaturised electronics, analytics, and consumer software development, with Sanofi’s clinical expertise and experience in bringing innovative treatments to people living with diabetes,” the two companies said in a statement.
The Sanofi deal comes just after a month after British drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline and US-based Verily, formerly Google Life Sciences, created a new company focused on fighting diseases by targeting electrical signals in the body, jump-starting a novel field of medicine called bioelectronics.
Nearly 400 million people worldwide have diabetes, with the type II version accounting for more than 90 percent of cases. Without proper treatment or lifestyle changes, those numbers are expected to grow substantially in the coming years.
The JV, called Onduo, “will initially focus on the type II diabetes community, specifically on developing solutions that could help people make better decisions about their day-to-day health, ranging from improved medication management to improved habits and goals,” Sanofi and Verily said.
A spokeswoman for Sanofi said products on sale would include connected objects such as insulin pens and online services.
Reuters