Pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has become something of a shining light in the gloom of post-referendum Britain. Amid the big FTSE sell-off immediately after the vote, GSK saw its share price soar as investors looked to park their cash in a perceived safe-haven, high-income stock. Last week, chief executive Andrew Witty announced that the group would spend £275m on revamping its UK science sites; a relief for those concerned that Brexit could be a drain on the nation's scientific capabilities. Now, the group is teaming up with Verily - a lifescience outlet of Google's parent company, Alphabet (US:GOOGL) - to create a groundbreaking new venture; Galvani Bioelectronics.
Bioelectronics - otherwise known as electroceuticals - aims to tackle a wide range of diseases using tiny computerised implants to stimulate the nervous system. Historically, the technique has been used to repair brain and spinal cord circuits and has successfully given patients the ability to control bionic limbs using their mind. But GSK and Verily together want to go one step further and "miniaturise implants down to the size of a grain of rice" in order to stimulate the peripheral nervous system to treat chronic diseases such as diabetes, arthritis and asthma.
GSK first entered the bioelectronics field in 2012 and since then has invested $50m into six start-up bioelectronics businesses via a specific fund. The furthest advanced of these is SetPoint Medical, which has developed an electronic implant that has successfully reduced symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis by stimulating the vagus nerve, which runs from the brain to the abdomen.
Alphabet - then Google - also moved into bioelectronics in 2012, when it embarked on a project to put computing inside a contact lens. This 'smart contact lens' has since been sold to Swiss pharma group Novartis, which is developing the technology so it will enable people with diabetes to monitor themselves continuously by measuring the glucose in their tears.
The parent companies will invest £540m in Galvani, which will be 55 per cent owned by GSK and headquartered at the group's research site in Stevenage. Moncef Slaoui, who has led GSK's research into bioelectronics for the past four years, will now chair the new board.
