Google Inc’s ambitious health startup Calico is teaming up with biotechnology drugmaker AbbVie Inc in a US$500 million joint venture that is set to try and develop new ways to treat cancer and other diseases such as Alzheimer’s.
The alliance announced on Wednesday calls for Google and AbbVie to each invest US$250 million in the project. An additional US$1 billion might be poured into the project. The two companies are to split all expenses and any profits generated by the venture.
Calico, a company created by Google last year, is to manage a team of scientists who are to work at a research-and-development laboratory in the San Francisco Bay Area. The precise location and size of the new laboratory has not been determined.
AbbVie, a spin-off from Abbott Laboratories, is to oversee the marketing of the drugs. The company has already been working on drugs to fight Parkinson’s disease, Crohn’s disease and other ailments.
Google set up Calico as a separate business last year to pursue medical breakthroughs that would enable people to live longer. Toward that end, Calico is doing extensive research to get a better understanding of how the human body ages and working on technology that could cure cancer.
Calico is run by Arthur Levinson, a former chief executive officer of biotech pioneer Genentech and a former member of Google’s board. He is also the chairman of Apple Inc, which is expected to provide further details to help people manage their health next week when the company unveils its latest iPhone.
The expansion into health might also include a new Apple device that could be worn on a person’s wrist.
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