Google Life Sciences opts for a name change with 'Verily'

Alphabet's Google Life Sciences has been shaking things up this year, forging ahead with a series of med-tech related projects with new leadership in tow. In the spinoff's latest move, it's unveiling a name change.

Google Life Sciences will now be known as "Verily," a word with 13th century Middle English origins that means "truly" or "certainly." The company is shooting for an aspirational message with its new name, CEO Andy Conrad told STAT. Verily wants to take conventional medical technologies "from reactive to proactive, from intervention to prevention," Conrad said. "Only through the truth are we going to defeat Mother Nature."

Meanwhile, Verily is dialing up its med-tech cachet with big plans for innovation. The Mountain View, CA-based company is developing "smart" contact lenses with Swiss drugmaker Novartis ($NVS), and the pair plan to test a first prototype of the product on humans in 2016. Verily recently secured two patents for new technology, one for a laser ablation system and another for a needle-free blood draw device.


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