This article was published on August 12, 2015

Google is building tiny devices to help diabetics


Google is building tiny devices to help diabetics

Only two days after its Alphabet announcement, Google has inked a deal with healthcare firm Dexcom to build miniature blood glucose monitoring devices for diabetics.

The company plans to design and manufacture Continuous Glucose Monitoring (CGM) wearables the size of a dime. To do so, it’s teaming up with Google’s Life Sciences division, which is now being spun off as a wholly owned subsidiary of Alphabet.

In exchange for Google’s miniaturization know-how, Dexcom will make an initial upfront payment of $35 million in its common stock, R&D milestone payments up to $65 million in DexCom’s choice of cash or stock, and revenue-based royalties between 5 and 9 percent once the products are launched and have achieved a certain level of revenue.

Andrew Conrad, head of the Life Sciences team at Google, said:

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.

This project sounds like it might be right up Conrad’s alley. Life Sciences is also working on a way to detect diseases early with the use of smart nanoparticles that will move through a patient’s bloodstream and identify signs of nascent health problems.

DexCom To Collaborate With The Life Sciences Team At Google On The Development Of Breakthrough Technologies To Change The Future Of Diabetes Management [PR Newswire via The Motley Fool]

Read next: Google is reorganizing under a new umbrella company called Alphabet

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