Google continues to establish world dominance, Verily
Formerly Google Life Sciences, the company has many established partnerships with large companies, such as Novartis, and now Johnson & Johnson, as the company announces a spinoff of the spinoff: Verb Surgical, an independent surgical solutions company in collaboration with Johnson & Johnson.
The series of partnerships is just the beginning of a new movement the company hopes will involve multiple industries and disciplines, from physicians to philosophers.
Controlling outcomes
Dating back to its previous namesake, Verily’s partnership with Novartis focuses on controlling diabetes.
“We know that keeping blood sugar under control leads to better outcomes, but the tools currently available to patients make it difficult to achieve this goal,” says a Verily spokesperson. “We think the technologies we’ve been working on at Verily could help.”
Novartis, who is working with the Verily to develop a smart contact lens to measure glucose, is just one of three companies to get involved.
Dexcom will be using the same miniaturized sensors used in the lenses, but in other form factors, and Sanofi explore how data gather by the new technology may help develop a better understanding of diabetes.
Creating understanding
Verily also is working with partners at Biogen and Brigham and Women’s Hospital on the SysteMS Study – a clinical study focused on understanding the progression of multiple sclerosis.
“This study is only possible because of advances that have been made in the last few years,” says the spokesperson.
These advancements include miniaturized sensors with large amounts of computing power, which can continuously gather physiological information.
Finding definition
The Baseline Study, one of the company’s more ambitious projects, is a multi-year scientific research study which was designed in collaboration with several academic partners.
Verily’s spokesperson tell us the project will “examine healthy physiology and attempt to define at a molecular level what it means to be healthy and provide insight into what the transition from health to illness looks like.”
The study will use the latest scientific techniques, such as genome analysis and epigenetics, allowing for an in-depth exploration of the human body at the molecular and cellular level.
“We aim to create a better understanding of health and what happens when someone transitions to disease that the broader medical community can leverage for years to come.”
