Verily Life Science’s latest joint venture has the Alphabet company working with Santen Pharmaceuticals to develop digital ophthalmology technology.

The joint venture will combine Osaka, Japan-based Santen’s industry knowledge and technology in ophthalmology with Verily’s expertise in the development of connected, integrated medical devices and machine learning. The companies said the joint venture would create and commercialize unique ophthalmic devices and comprehensive tech-enabled solutions.

In a release, Shigeo Taniuchi, president and COO of Santen said, “This joint venture will combine Verily's cutting-edge digital technology and our global industrial and commercial ophthalmology business platform to pursue innovation in ophthalmology. Santen has actively promoted collaboration and open innovation with various external organizations in order to enhance eye health, and the corresponding quality of life, for people around the world. Digital technology is a transformational driver in health, and we hope that this joint venture will be a significant step forward in paving the way for better eye care around the world.”

This certainly isn’t Verily’s first rodeo when it comes to joint ventures. Verily has been involved in collaborations that range from bioelectronic medicine to diabetes management. The company was also in a high-profile ophthalmology collaboration with Alcon before the split with Novartis.

The collaboration was slightly altered when the companies halted work on the glucose detection lens project.

As far as recent collaborations go, Menlo Park, CA-based Earlens tapped Verily to develop next-generation capabilities for a nonsurgical hearing solution.