Walgreens, Google parent partner on health technologies

Walgreens Boots Alliance announced Thursday it will team up with a subsidiary of Google parent company Alphabet to develop technology aimed at reducing the health care costs for patients with chronic illnesses.

The Deerfield-based drugstore chain will partner with California-based Verily to work on a wide range of projects, the companies said in a release. Under the agreement, the companies will explore and develop ways to improve access to advanced health care technologies and solutions, including sensors and software to help prevent, manage, screen and diagnose disease. The results of those developments would be marketed and sold through Walgreens pharmacies.

"The continued rise in chronic diseases today can be costly to patients as well as to our health care system," Walgreens Boots Alliance CEO Stefano Pessina said. "Working with Verily, we'll look at how we can best support integrated and value-based care to meet our patients' needs, as well as opportunities to address other chronic conditions over time."

The first project under the partnership will be a test designed to monitor and improve adherence to medication by patients. In addition, Walgreens will work with Onduo - a Verily joint venture with Sanofi - to launch a virtual diabetes program for Walgreens employees and family members with Type 2 diabetes. That program will be adminsitreted through the company's employee health plan. Onduo provides tools, coaching and remote access to specialty doctors to help people with diabetes to manage their condition.

"Medication adherence, which represents one of the most significant and costly barriers to improving patient outcomes, is an area that I am most excited to work on with a partner like Walgreens," said Andrew Conrad, chief executive officer at Verily.

The initiatives are part of a broader strategic alliance designed to combine Verily's health care technology innovation with Walgreens corner store presence and pharmacy services.