Google Inc and French drugmaker Sanofi SA are going to join hands to develop tools for improving the management and treatment of diabetes. According to the International Diabetes Federation, Sanofi will work with Google's Life Sciences team for collecting, analyzing and understanding information that has impact on diabetes. It is likely to affect 592 million by 2035.

Sanofi's diabetes product line raked in sales of EUR 1.9 billion which is around Rs. 14,120 crores and will contribute about 20% to the company's total sales in the second quarter. The continued pricing pressure in the United States has hurt the sales in this strategic unit.

Google's life sciences unit has already teamed up with Swiss drugmaker Novartis AG for the development of contact lenses to assist diabetics track blood glucose levels or restore the eye's ability to focus.

Besides this, it has also collaborated with DexCom Inc, a maker of continuous glucose-monitoring (CGM) devices, to create a CGM device, of the size of a band-aid, which can be worn on the skin. The company is also functioning with Biogen Inc for studying the progression of multiple sclerosis. The life sciences division belongs to Google X labs, which is testing self-driving cars.

With the DexCom partnership, the two companies will together develop smaller and affordable CGM (continuous glucose monitoring) products. These products will firstly focus on reducing the cost and size of CGM components.