Alcon and Google to ally on smart lens development

Alcon has agreed a deal with Google to in-license its smart lens technology for ocular medical uses.

The agreement will see Alcon work with a team within Google develop and commercialise smart lens innovations with the potential to transform eye care. This is a move that further enhances the ocular medicine specialist's pipeline and global leadership in contact and intraocular lenses.

Google's smart lens research involves the use of non-invasive sensors, microchips and other miniaturised electronics embedded within contact lenses, providing monitoring and notification applications.

Such devices could be used to measure tear fluid in the eye and provide a means of charting glucose levels in diabetic patients, or improving vision for people with presbyopia who can no longer read without glasses.

Jeff George, division head of Alcon, said: "We aim to unlock a new frontier to jointly address the unmet medical needs of millions of eye care patients around the world."

The agreement was reached following negotiations between Google and Novartis, which has owned 100 percent of the Alcon business since 2010.