Verily Life Sciences, Alphabet’s life sciences division, has tied up with pharmaceutical company Sanofi to invest $500 million in a joint venture called Onduo to collaborate on devices and services related to diabetes, reports Reuters. Sanofi will use Verily’s ‘miniaturised electronics, analysis and consumer software development’ to find diabetes treatments. It could sell online services and a connected insulin pen among others. Google renamed its Life Sciences arm to Verily Life Sciences in December last year. Bioelectronics testing: A month ago, Verily Life Sciences formed a joint venture with pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) to invest $714 million in a new company called Galvani Bioelectronics. The joint venture would get access to GSK’s drug development and disease biology expertise, whereas Verily would provide miniature electronics, data and software for clinical purposes. GSK has also invested $50 million in a VC fund for bioelectronics and funded scientists working in the field but outside its company. Health tracking wristband & diabetes detecting lenses: In June 2015, Google created an experimental health tracking wristband which could be used in clinical trials and drug tests to measure pulse, heart rhythm skin temperature etc. but would not be a consumer facing device. In January 2014, the company was testing prototypes for a smart contact lens which would measure the glucose level in a person’s tears using a tiny wireless chip and glucose sensor. Find Verily’s other ventures here. Consumer health info through apps on Android & iOS - In April 2015, Google started displaying info on Google…
