Alphabet Focuses On Healthcare Space With $1 Billion Funding

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) has been actively engaged in advancing in the healthcare industry.

Recently, the company’s healthcare division Verily has raised $1 billion in a funding round led by Silver Lake, a private equity firm, along with Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan and other global investors.

Notably, the latest move of the company will provide plenty of resources to make strategic investments in healthcare projects, partnerships and acquisitions. This will enable it to strengthen its healthcare initiatives.

Strategic Partnerships: A Key Catalyst

Alphabet has been firing on all cylinders in the healthcare sector on the back of well-performing Verily. Moreover, strategic partnerships have been playing a vital role in expanding the company’s footprint in the healthcare industry.

Recently, Verily teamed up with Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) to work on several healthcare projects together with an aim to make healthcare services affordable for the masses. Further, the company is working with Dexcom to create a miniaturized glucose monitor.

Further, the company is working on a project to develop a surgical robot in collaboration with Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ).

Additionally, Verily has formed a joint venture (JV) with Sanofi (PA:SASY) called Onduo to help people living with Type 2 diabetes by integrating devices, software, medicine and professional care all together. Moreover, it is planning to form a JV with ResMed to aid in the proper treatment of sleep apnea.

Healthcare Attracting Tech Behemoths

The growth prospects in the multi-trillion-dollar healthcare industry are immense. Consequently, the industry has been attracting tech behemoths such as Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) , Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) , Fitbit (NYSE:FIT) and many others apart from Alphabet to enter it.

Amazon is constantly disrupting this particular space driven by its focus on revolutionizing the healthcare sector. The e-commerce giant is leaving no stone unturned to replace the time-consuming traditional healthcare methods with faster and technically efficient processes.

Further, Fitbit is gaining traction with the growing adoption of fitness wearables worldwide. The company’s huge portfolio of fitness tracker products continues to aid its dominance in the wearable market.

Meanwhile, Apple has undoubtedly become a frontrunner in this field primarily due to Watch Series, HealthKit and Health app which help the users in monitoring their health.

Consequently, growing initiatives by the above mentioned companies are intensifying the healthcare competition for Alphabet.

Nevertheless, growing healthcare initiatives backed by strong inflow of resources via funding rounds are likely to aid Verily in its health related projects which in turn will help Alphabet to rapidly penetrate the healthcare market.

Currently, Alphabet carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

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