New Delhi: Apple Inc. has a moonshot-style project going back to the Steve Jobs era: non-intrusive and continuous Blood glucose supervision.
The goal of this secretive effort, dubbed E5, is to measure the amount of glucose in someone’s body without needing to prick the skin to obtain blood. After hitting major milestones recently, the company now believes it could eventually bring glucose monitoring to market, according to people familiar with the effort.
If perfected, such a breakthrough would be a boon for diabetics and help cement Apple as a health care powerhouse. Adding the monitoring system to the Apple Watch, the ultimate goal, would also make that device an essential for millions of diabetics around the world.
There are still years of work ahead, but the move could turn a multibillion-dollar industry upside down. About 1 in 10 Americans have diabetes, and usually rely on a device that pricks the skin for a blood sample. There are also patches from Dexcom Inc. and Abbott Laboratories which are inserted into the skin but must be replaced every two weeks.
Apple is taking a different approach, using a chip technology known as silicon photonics and a measurement process called optical absorption spectroscopy. The system uses lasers to shine specific wavelengths of light into an area under the skin where there is interstitial fluid (substances that leak from capillaries) that can be absorbed by glucose. The light is then reflected back to the sensor in a way that indicates the glucose concentration. An algorithm then determines a person’s blood glucose level.
Hundreds of engineers are working on the project as part of Apple’s Exploratory Design Group, or XDG, a previously unreported effort similar to X, the moonshot division of Alphabet Inc. It’s one of the most covert initiatives in the famous and reserved Apple. Even fewer people are involved than the company’s self-driving car project, overseen by the Special Projects Group, or the mixed-reality headset, which is being developed by its Technology Development Group.
The news weighed on shares of diabetes technology companies on Wednesday, with both Dexcom and Abbott falling more than 3% before recovering. Apple gained 0.3% to $148.91 at the close in New York.
A spokesman for Cupertino, California-based Apple declined to comment. Meanwhile, an Abbott representative said it is also developing new glucose control products. “Continued innovation in healthcare technology is critical,” Abbott spokesman Scott Stoffel said. “It’s also complex and needs to be accurate, easy and affordable. Abbott is the world leader in continuous glucose monitoring because our FreeStyle Libre products address those needs.”
Apple has tested its glucose technology on hundreds of people over the past decade. In human trials, he has used the system with people who do not know whether they have diabetes, as well as people with prediabetes and type 2 diabetes. He has compared his own technology with standard tests on blood drawn from veins and samples taken from a needle stick. skin, known as capillary blood.
Apple’s system, which has been in development for more than 12 years, is now considered to be in a proof-of-concept stage, said the people, who asked not to be named because the project is confidential. The company believes the technology is viable, but needs to be scaled down to a more practical size.
Engineers are working to develop a prototype iPhone-sized device that can be strapped to a person’s bicep. That would be a significant reduction from a previous version of the system that sat on top of a table.
One of Apple’s goals for the technology is to create a preventative measure that warns people if they are prediabetic. They might then make lifestyle changes to try to avoid developing type 2 diabetes, which occurs when a person’s body does not use insulin properly. Apple’s regulatory team has already had initial discussions about how to get government approval for the system.
But there is a reason why it is considered an impossible goal. Numerous start-ups, and some of the largest companies in the world, have tried unsuccessfully to develop a non-invasive monitoring system. In 2014, Google announced plans to make smart contact lenses that could measure blood glucose through tears. In 2018, he archived the complex project.
Apple’s top executives believe this problem is one they are uniquely positioned to solve, given the company’s expertise in integrating hardware and software, along with their deep pockets. CEO Tim Cook, COO Jeff Williams and Apple Watch hardware head Eugene Kim are all involved in the project, and it has already cost hundreds of millions of dollars, according to people familiar with the situation.
The Apple Watch has gradually become more of a health tool. The first model, released in 2015, included a heart rate sensor but was more focused on fitness tracking. The device gained the ability to take electrocardiograms, or ECGs, from the wrist in 2018. It can now also detect body temperatures, for women’s health tracking, and calculate blood oxygen levels.
The glucose system will be based on a list of Apple-designed silicon photonic chips and sensors. The company selected Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. to build the main chip to power the feature. TSMC, a key Apple partner, already builds the main processors inside the iPhone, iPad and Mac.
Before moving to TSMC, Apple had worked with Rockley Photonics Holdings Ltd. to develop the sensors and chip for the technology. In 2021, Rockley publicly revealed his work with Apple, sparking interest in the provider. Apple later ended the partnership and Rockley filed for bankruptcy last month.
While Apple has made major technological strides in the glucose effort, it suffered a recent setback: The group’s leader, scientist and engineering executive Bill Athas, passed away unexpectedly in late 2022. The work is now led by some of the Athas top executives. deputies, including managers Dave Simon and Jeff Koller. They report to Johny Srouji, Apple’s head of chips.
Before joining the XDG team, the project was shrouded in an even bigger secret: It operated as its own startup called Avolonte Health LLC which, to any outside observer, was not affiliated with Apple.
The startup took place in a small office building in Palo Alto, about 12 miles from Apple headquarters. The team members had Avolonte employee credentials, rather than Apple ones. That strategy kept Apple’s work secret during human testing, as well as its efforts to obtain patents and align partners.
The project began in 2010 when Apple bought a startup called RareLight that was touting an early approach to noninvasive blood glucose monitoring.
Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, dealing with his own health problems, ordered the iPhone maker to buy the company. Apple turned to Bob Messerschmidt, the founder of RareLight, to start their own work on a glucose monitor, initially codenamed E68. Messerschmidt now runs a health company called Cor Health.
The deal ultimately happened because of “Jobs’s vision of health care combined with technology,” he said in an interview. Former Apple senior hardware executives Bob Mansfield and Michael Culbert also pushed the project, the people involved said.
Messerschmidt was replaced as project director in 2011 by Apple veteran Michael Hillman, who left in 2015. Following his departure, Avolonte Health closed and the effort became part of Athas’s XDG. The team now works near the Apple Park headquarters.
