Based on statistics from the American Diabetes Association (ADA), there are approximately 30 million children and adults who are suffering from diabetes in the U.S. alone and over 1.5 million Americans diagnosed each year. Aside from that, it has also been found to be the primary cause of death accounting for nearly 70,000 Americans every year.
Thus, to save these millions of people and improve their six to ten times a day picking scenario, the giant web-based browser Google takes business to the next level as they venture on new therapies to improve care of people with diabetes.
According to a report from NPR, diabetes is Google Life Sciences first major target disease. It has collaborated with Sanofi, a French multinational company involve in research and development, manufacturing, and marketing of pharmaceutical drugs that cover mainly seven therapeutic areas including diabetes.
Google will venture on the analytics, electronics and chip designs whereas Sanofi will extend its research to produce an improved treatment regimen for both Types I and II diabetes. The joint venture aspiringly aims to develop new tools to enhance disease management and enable new interventions like indicators of health such as blood glucose level and sensor devices.
In a statement, Chief Executive Office of Sanofi Olivier Brandicourt said that "as a global leader in diabetes care, we have both an obligation and a commitment to providing an integrated solution for people living with diabetes. This initiative combines Sanofi's strength and knowledge in diabetics with Google's leadership in technology and analytics to create a first-of-its-kind initiative with the potential to transform diabetes care."
Since the discovery of insulin in 1923, there is the little advancement and slow progress in improving the quality of life of people with diabetes. Hence, according to the executive director of ADA San Francisco Bay Area chapter Michael Chae, this project is a "highly lucrative" chance and the timing is perfect. "There's been an explosion of wearables, data and analytics. People with diabetes are more comfortable in living in a measured world."
A painless method of measuring blood glucose is what he envisions and what patients with diabetes should hope for. For instance, one of the emerging products of Google is measuring the level of glucose through tears that are made possible with a glitter-sized sensor embedded in a contact lens. "There is a whole lot of innovation at once," he added.
Andy Conrad, CEO of Google Life Sciences, said that "with new technologies emerging to provide a more continuous and real-time view of a patient's health, we can see the promise for more proactive and effective ways to control diabetes."
