Novartis' eye care division Alcon has entered into an agreement with Google to in-license its 'smart lens' technology for all ocular medical uses.
The agreement with the Google[x] division, a team devoted to solving major global problems, gave Alcon the opportunity to develop and commercialise Google’s smart lens technology to manage human diseases and conditions.
Alcon parent company Novartis stated: ‘Google’s key advances in the miniaturisation of electronics complement Novartis’s deep pharmaceuticals and medical device expertise. Novartis aims to enhance ways in which diseases are mapped within the body and ultimately prevented.’
The two companies will collaborate on developing a smart lens to address ocular conditions using non-invasive sensors, microchips and other miniaturised electronics embedded within contact lenses.
Novartis CEO Joseph Jimenez said: ‘This is a key step for us to go beyond the confines of traditional disease management, starting with the eye.’
Novartis added that its interest in the technology was focused on diabetic management through a minimally invasive measurement of the body’s glucose levels via the eye’s tear fluid and to provide accommodative vision correction for presbyopes, restoring the eye’s natural autofocus with an accommodative contact lens or intraocular lens for cataract treatment. Alcon aimed to accelerate product innovation based on the smart lens technology.
Jeff George, division head of Alcon added that they aimed to 'unlock a new frontier to jointly address the unmet medical needs of millions of eye care patients around the world'.