Google to expand diabetes monitoring technology
pharmafile | August 14, 2015 | News story | Medical Communications |Â Â blood sugar, diabetes, glucose, google, smart technology, wearable techÂ
Google is teaming up with the diabetes device maker DexCom to build a small and affordable sensor that could help diabetes patients to monitor their condition in real time.
Google’s Life Sciences division is teaming up with DexCom, which makes glucose monitoring systems, to create the device.
Andrew Conrad, the head of Google’s Life Sciences division, says: “We’re committed to developing new technologies that will help move health care from reactive to proactive. This collaboration is another step towards expanding monitoring options and making it easier for people with diabetes to proactively manage their health.”
Google is now part of Alphabet, after the technology giant recently announced a restructure that created the new company. Alphabet is the overarching company in which the internet search firm Google, the mobile phone operating system Android, and the company’s more radical offshoots – including driverless cars and drone technologies – now sit.
The initial products to be developed under the agreement will focus on minimising both the cost and size of continuous glucose monitors for people with diabetes. The products will be designed to be disposable, and will be intended for use across all diabetes markets – type 1, type 2, juvenile and gestational diabetes. The devices will be designed to upload patients’ blood sugar measurements to Google’s cloud software, where it could be accessed by healthcare professionals.
The companies say the goal “is to empower more people to control their diabetes with real-time and actionable information by developing a low-cost, small, bandage-sized sensor that is connected to the cloud. By addressing these needs, we believe we will have the platform that can replace finger sticks and become the standard of care”, a statement says.
DexCom will retain all sales and distribution rights of the products developed under the agreement. It is also obligated to pay an initial upfront payment and milestone payments during development, and revenue-based royalties once these products are launched and have achieved a certain level of revenue.
Google has also announced it is working with Novartis, to develop contact lenses designed to help patients with diabetes measure their blood sugar levels.
Lilian Anekwe
Related Content
MetP Pharma releases positive data on intranasal semaglutide administration
MetP Pharma has released new data highlighting the advantages of its MetP technology in delivering …
AOTI diabetic foot care therapy to be used by NHS
Effective from September 2025, AOTI’s Topical Wound Oxygen (TWO2) therapy has been awarded inclusion in …
Recce Pharmaceuticals reports positive phase 2 data for skin infection drug
Recce Pharmaceuticals have announced positive patient data from its phase 2 clinical trial into RECCE …
