Google is undergoing a major restructuring over the last couple of weeks, and now it is separating its life sciences group from Google X. The group will be spun off into a standalone company as a part of Google’s new parent company Alphabet, co-founder Sergey Brin said in a Google+ post on Thursday.
Google optimistic on Life Sciences group
Andy Conrad, who was the head of the Life Sciences group, will be the chief executive of the new firm, Brin said, adding only the reporting structure is being changed while the goals remain the same. Conrad, who is a molecular biologist, joined Google in 2013.
“They’ll continue to work with other life sciences companies to move new technologies from early stage R&D to clinical testing — and, hopefully — transform the way we detect, prevent, and manage disease,” Brin wrote. The newly formed company will employ programmers along with staff skilled in optics and oncology.
The move from the internet firm may suggest that some of the life science projects hold enough potential to deserve their own separate corporate entity. The Google X life sciences team is known for its glucose monitoring contact lens, and now more projects can be expected from the new company.
“This is the type of company we hope will thrive as part of Alphabet and I can’t wait to see what they do next,” Brin wrote.
Two health-focused companies under Alphabet
After the spin-out of the life sciences group into a separate company, Alphabet now includes two health-focused companies. One is the newly created life sciences group while the other is Calico, which the Internet firm created in 2013 to focus primarily on aging issues.
Last week, Google unveiled a massive overhaul of its corporate structure. In place of Google, a new holding firm has been created called Alphabet, which is made up of many separate businesses such as Google’s Web businesses (Android, YouTube, search, maps, etc.), Nest (Google’s home appliances division) and Fiber (a high-speed Internet delivery service). Google X, which has been overseeing many futuristic projects like self-driving cars and airborne wind turbines, will also be spun off into a separate company under the parent firm Alphabet.
In pre-market trading Friday, Google shares were down 0.74% at $674.44. Year to date the stock is up almost 27%, while over the last 12 months shares are up over 16%.
