Wearables: A World Of Pharma Partnership And Potential

As the commercial and scientific potential of wearable devices in medicine becomes clearer, not least to slow the competition-driven price slide typically seen in consumer tech, both established technology giants and start-ups are vying for some of the action. This presents pharma firms with new potential partners – and potential competitors – in the likes of Google, Apple, and Samsung as well as in smaller specialists like Empatica and AliveCor.

Device makers can be split into five broad categories, encompassing established medical devices players, large software and consumer technology firms,...