Mayo Clinic, Gentag Team Up on Wearables

Could this partnership take wearable medical devices to a new level?

Chris Newmarker

Mayo Clinic and Gentag have reached an agreement to develop what they describe as the next generation of wearable biosensors to fight obesity and diabetes.

Rochester, MN-based Mayo Clinic and Washington, DC-based Gentag recently announced that they will collaborate with third parties to develop the wearable patch sensors, which are the size of a small bandage and designed to be painless, wireless and disposable.

The agreement pools together more than 50 issues patents and technologies from the two entities and offers them for licensing.

The bandage includes a cell phone-compatible sensor that communicates via a closed-loop diabetes management system. It is compatible with cell phones. The idea is to monitor movement and develop treatments for obesity and related conditions.

"We look forward to working with the medical device community to get this technology into the marketplace," John P. Peeters, Ph.D., CEO of Gentag, said in a news release.

As one of the top health providers in the world, Mayo Clinic has embraced experimentation with wearables. Work on wearable heart monitors, for example, eventually resulted in the BodyGuardian, which was licensed to Preventice. Through a merger last year, Preventice's headquarters have moved from Minnesota to Texas, with the Merck Global Health Innovation Fund as a majority investor. 

Chris Newmarker is senior editor of Qmed and MPMN. Follow him on Twitter at @newmarker.

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