Swiss Drug giant Novartis on Tuesday announced it has entered into a deal with Google for development of a smart lens designed to correct wearer’s vision and monitor blood sugar levels.
As part of the deal, Novartis’ eye care division, Alcon, which currently develops surgical, pharmaceutical and vision care products, will get the opportunity to develop and commercialise Google’s smart lens technology.
The search engine giant first unveiled a smart lens prototype featuring an minuscule glucose sensor in January, claiming that the smart lens could be used to monitor diabetics’ glucose levels directly from tear fluid.
Monitoring glucose levels using smart lens will eliminate the need for diabetes patients to pin-prick blood tests several times a day.
Google co-founder Sergey Brin said the company’s dream is to use the latest electronics miniaturisation technology to help improve the quality of life of millions of people across the world and that Google is excited to work with Novartis to turn this dream into a reality.
Novartis CEO Joseph Jimenez, said the company is looking forward to working with Google. He also added that the search engine giant’s advanced technology combined with their own extensive knowledge of biology will aid in meeting unmet medical needs.
Financial details of the Google-Novartis deal are yet to be disclosed. The pharmaceutical giant expects to get the innovative smart lens ready for market in about five years from now.
