As long as it catches mice

Google finally learns from health care hiccups

Google has finally learned from its case of healthcare hiccups. Costly run-ins with US regulators taught the internet giant that drugs and biotech can be a lot more complicated than the search business. Now it's partnering with pharmaceutical firms and others that know the legal terrain. That allows Google to engage in disruption while avoiding bureaucratic minefields.

The company's latest stumble came last year, when the Food and Drug Administration punished 23andMe for selling unproven genetic tests and ignoring regulatory warnings. The biotech startup was bankrolled by Google and launched by the wife of Google co-founder Sergey Brin.

In 2011, the search firm agreed to pay the Department of Justice $500 million for running Canadian pharmacy advertisements aimed at Americans seeking illegal prescription drugs.
 

There are, of course, good reasons to strictly regulate healthcare. Medications can have dangerous side effects, and faulty tests can result in missed diagnoses. Most consumers also have no way of making informed judgments about their medical care.

The burdens of government oversight prompted Brin to comment recently that health "is just a painful business to be in." Rather than get out, though, he and his colleagues have taken a different approach: team up with companies that know what they're doing.

In July, for example, Google announced that it would license to Novartis the technology for making smart contact lenses, which diabetics can use to measure their glucose levels. Contacts can cause eye problems for diabetics, though, and the pharmaceutical firm is more qualified than the search company to balance the risks and benefits while also guiding the technology through the regulatory process.

Likewise, Calico, a biotech startup backed by Google, announced on Wednesday that it and drug maker AbbVie were forming a partnership worth up to $1.5 billion. The new venture will continue Calico's research on potential cures for age-related diseases, but with the help of AbbVie's cash and experience in dealing with regulators.

These and other moves suggest that Google still has big ambitions in healthcare, a field that can no doubt benefit from its innovation and technological edge. But the company also seems to recognize that even its vast expertise has limits.