Are Changes in Store for Verily’s Diabetes Joint Venture?

The dynamics of one of Verily Life Science’s high-profile partnerships could be changing soon. During a recent capital markets day presentation, Sanofi’s newly installed CEO, Paul Hudson, announced the company had “over-invested” in Onduo, its diabetes joint venture with Mountainview, CA-based Verily.

The company said it would focus on immunology and vaccine businesses and stop its work in cardiovascular and diabetes R&D efforts.

The two companies formed Onduo back in 2016, each investing nearly $500 million. At the time, both Verily and Sanofi said Onduo’s mission is to help people with diabetes live full, healthy lives by developing comprehensive solutions that combine devices, software, medicine, and professional care to enable simple and intelligent disease management.

Paris-based Sanofi also collaborated with Verily and drug-device delivery-firm Sensile Medical to develop a connected insulin patch pump.

Sanofi’s strategy realignment comes on the heels of Onduo releasing significant data from its telehealth program. The 740-patient study shows there was a strong HbA1c improvement at up to six months. Results from the study were published in the Journal of Diabetes Science and Technology.

This marks the second joint venture Verily has been involved in that has been altered significantly. Novartis’s Alcon and Verily halted work on a glucose detection lens in November of 2018. The partnership between Novartis and Verily began back in 2014.  The shift away from glucose-detection eyewear came a few months before Alcon completed its spinoff from Novartis.