Sanofi and Google's Verily Life Science launch diabetes joint venture

Global healthcare provider Sanofi and Alphabet’s Verily Life Science launched Onduo, their joint venture, to develop diabetes solutions using software, medicine and professional care.

Onduo will marry Verily's experience in miniaturised electronics, analytics, and consumer software, and Sanofi's clinical expertise and experience in bringing treatment to people living with diabetes.

Onduo chief executive, Dr Joshua Riff, said: “We want to develop solutions that allow people living with diabetes to focus on the things they love and enjoy in life by providing tools to make dealing with their diabetes less burdensome."

The joint venture will focus on type two diabetes to develop solutions which could help people make better decisions about their day-to-day health, from improved medication management to improved habits.

In the future, Onduo will also include type one diabetes, and eventually target people at risk of developing diabetes to prevent the onset of the disease.

Peter Guenter, head of global diabetes and cardiovascular business unit at Sanofi, said: "The integration of multiple interventions, such as data-driven patient support and devices in addition to treatment, can help improve outcomes, which is important from the perspective of patients, healthcare professionals and the overall healthcare system.

“The new company Sanofi and Verily invested in will adopt a more service-centric approach and support doctors in their efforts to treat their patients more effectively. In addition to developing innovative therapies for diabetes which will remain a key focus for Sanofi, we see these solutions which combine innovative therapies and services as the future for diabetes care."

US health care networks Sutter Health of northern California and Allegheny Health Network of western Pennsylvania are the first to collaborate with Onduo to test the platform with healthcare professionals and people with type two diabetes in a clinical care setting.

The company is also talking with patient groups like Taking Control of Your Diabetes to provide input on future product designs.

Shares in Sanofi SA were down 2.32% to 39.19 cents and shares in Alphabet were down 1.79% to 788.48 cents at 0400 GMT.