[ g o o g l e ]

Basel, Switzerland, July 15, 2014 - Novartis announced that its eye care division Alcon has entered into an agreement with a division of Google Inc. to in-license its "smart lens" technology for all ocular medical uses. The agreement with Google[x], a team within Google that is devoted to finding new solutions to big global problems, provides Alcon with the opportunity to develop and commercialize Google's "smart lens" technology with the potential to transform eye care and further enhance Alcon's pipeline and global leadership in contact lenses and intraocular lenses. The transaction remains subject to anti-trust approvals.

The agreement between Google and Alcon represents an important step for Novartis, across all of its divisions, to leverage technology to manage human diseases and conditions. Google's key advances in the miniaturization of electronics complement Novartis's deep pharmaceuticals and medical device expertise. Novartis aims to enhance the ways in which diseases are mapped within the body and ultimately prevented.

"We are looking forward to working with Google to bring together their advanced technology and our extensive knowledge of biology to meet unmet medical needs," said Novartis CEO Joseph Jimenez. "This is a key step for us to go beyond the confines of traditional disease management, starting with the eye."

http://www.novartis.com/newsroom/media-releases/en/2014/1824836.shtml

 

We won't be doing shit on this. They're basically paying for Alcon's advice when they run into trouble, since they have no idea how to manufacture a contact lens.

 

I'm afraid we'll loose all respect of doctors with this circus. "It's a big honor that Google chose Alcon out of many companies bidding for this technology" Ha! Or is it the opposite - it's a big honor that serious researchers will give credibility and Alcon's good name to a bunch of dorks throwing ideas in air, while seating in their bean bag chairs? What is the relation between sugar in blood and sugar in tears - remains to be seen.

 

Nvs pharma rep here. This person is clueless. This mrkt would be huge.

 

Sorry "rep" . Market for such a device is indeed huge, but you should just stick to that part and not comment on the other poster's intelligence. There are physiological issues with such an approach. The glucose in the tear has a lag time (several minutes and more) compared to the one in plasma. Therefore such measurement is never real time and unable to warn for a possible hypo or hyper. Aside from that, there are tons of IP out there about such an approach and the idea is at least 15-20 years old. (We worked at J&J on such ideas back in the 90's).

 

So let me get this straight. You are going to ask the diabetic patients, most of them who have already been lasered on their retina and most likely already carrying an IOL, to wear a contact lens too?

 

Pharma rep. What im talking about is getting rid of the glucose monitor and the strips that go with them. A multi billion dollar business on its own. Plus the wasted office visits that go with them. I also bet that the new device they are talking about to read the sugers is probably your iphone. So now think about the new money nvs will make and the stock price. They way we view this business is changing fast. I m in primarycare so ill be cut lose in november anyway. 18 years after i started. good luck alcon brothers.

 

Well we need SOMETHING to cover the $2.3 billion we're going to lose on Diovan.

 

You did not answer the questions and instead focused on what the market is today for glucose monitoring. Clearly you have zero experience and knowledge in the eye science and eye business.

 

To say nothing of the reduced corneal oxygenation and epitheliopathy commonly seen in diabetics. And just imagine a diabetic with peripheral neuropathy and/or poor vision trying to put in and take out a contact lens. Might be better just to stab your finger than your eye.

 

But didn't you hear Jeff???? It's a great idea! And we get to help people!

 

I sold zaditor for nvs 12 years ago. But no real eye knowledge. Many years in the diabetic mrkt. Im talking about monitoring before the eye goes bad and the challenges that represents for the doctor and patient. I would ask you to look the problem facing a 35 year old who was just told his a1c was 9. Bp was 165 and ldl was 290. Then google what the diabetic mrkt will be by 2020 as we export the american diet all over the world.

Cha ching! Nvs will f....ck this product up but google will save the nvs turds from themselves.

 

is L Attias really that good and can see the future better than anyone else???

 

Attias is quite possibly the most incompetent employee in Fort Worth. Very well known he is one of the worst. How he still has a job is truly a mystery

 

Go back to your drugs, pal. Clearly, you are the one, who is clueless about medical devices and the eye. This is absolutely pie in the sky and to trumpet about such "innovation" is just reckless. Jeff is fixing Alcon from the wrong end. We were a solid respectable company serving 50+% of the World's eyecare needs. And he donates our brand to teenager geeks with "ideas", while Sabree is strangling Alcon R&D from inside.

 

Ha-ha! Chech Fig. 4c for correlation of glucose level in tears and blood in rabbit experiment - R^2 = 0.48:

http://pubs.acs.org/doi/ipdf/10.1021/ac201700c

 

oops!

I guess they weren't counting on anyone to dig deeper.

 

BioMEMS & Microelectronics are your future, regardless of opinion. Research and embrace.

 

Statements like this are strong reminders of why engineers can never be good doctors, physiologists, biochemists, etc.

 

The majority do not aspire to be, what's the unsolicited gripe for? A little salty and no explanation, personal issue? You appear to not appreciate what engineers do for your profession, advance it.