BioPharma

Alphabet spins out first company: The life sciences division of Google X

Google X's life science division is being spun out as a brand new company, according to a restructuring announcement from Alphabet's Sergey Brin.

Underscoring its new emphasis on healthcare, Alphabet – the new parent company of Google – is creating a new company out of the life sciences division of Google X.

This is the team that’s developing a smart contact lens, a nanodiagnostics platform and, most recently, a next-gen continuous glucose monitor in partnership with San Diego-based DexCom. Notably, this DexCom announcement came right on the heels of Google telling the world that parent company Alphabet would come into being.

Google cofounder Sergey Brin made the announcement in an August 20 blog – saying the life sciences team is “graduating” from the X lab.Brin didn’t indicate what the new company will be called.

“While the reporting structure will be different, their goal remains the same,” Brin writes. “They’ll continue to work with other life sciences companies to move new technologies from early stage R&D to clinical testing – and, hopefully – transform the way we detect, prevent and manage disease.”

 

The new CEO will be its current CEO, Andy Conrad – a lauded life sciences creative that has also worked as chief scientific officer of both LabCorp and the North Carolina Research Campus, among other achievements.

We’ve reached out to Google and DexCom to learn more about what this means – particularly for smaller life sciences companies looking to partner with the tech behemoth. Stay tuned.

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