Novo Nordisk, a global healthcare company, and IBM Watson Health announced that the two companies will work together to create diabetes solutions built on the Watson Health Cloud. The agreement combines Novo Nordisk's deep understanding of diabetes with IBM's leadership in cognitive computing.

The companies will explore possibilities for improved diabetes care via insights from real-time, real-world evidence of Novo Nordisk diabetes treatments and devices. By harnessing the potential of the Watson Health Cloud, Novo Nordisk aims to further advance its offerings to people living with diabetes and their healthcare professionals.

Commenting on the agreement, Jakob Riis, executive vice president, Novo Nordisk said: "Working with ambitious partners like IBM Watson Health helps us explore the opportunities presented by an increasingly digitalised healthcare system. We aim to leverage our combined capabilities to improve the lives of people with diabetes by making the management of the condition more simple, effective and measurable."

IBM Watson is the first commercially available cognitive computing platform and represents a new era of computing. The platform, delivered through the cloud, processes vast amounts of big data to uncover patterns and insights, understands complex questions posed in natural language, proposes evidence-based answers, and learns from each interaction. The Watson Health Cloud is a development platform for health and wellness solutions.

"IBM is excited to work with Novo Nordisk, a global leader in diabetes, to help the company create new e-health solutions on the Watson Health Cloud - accessing cognitive computing to help personalise care," said Deborah DiSanzo, general manager of IBM Watson Health.

In April 2015, IBM launched IBM Watson Health and the Watson Health Cloud platform. The new unit will help improve the ability of doctors, researchers and insurers to innovate by surfacing insights from the massive amount of personal health data being created and shared daily.