Biogen (the makers of Avonex, Tysabri, Tecfidera, Rituxan, Pelgridy and the clinical trail I'm on) and Google (their Google X division) have teamed up to research certain aspects of MS. It appears to be aimed at gathering data on the disease's advancement with a view to hypothesising why the disease course varies so radically, though the exact terms haven't yet been laid out. I'll be watching this one.
I found the press release on MS-UK.org's website, but they cited SFGate themselves, so I'll link to the article referenced.
http://www.sfgate.com/business/article/Google-Biogen-team-up-for-multiple-sclerosis-6043902.php
"The goal is to explain why the disease progresses differently from patient to patient, said Rick Rudick, Biogen’s vice president of development sciences."
That Rick Rudick is the former head of the Cleveland Clinic's MS programme, so they've brought in some heavy hitters. Obviously this is not something done from an altruistic perspective on Biogen's part, and the approach of seeking out a commercial partner versus an academic partner is addressed in the article. I'm a bit wary of this, but I acknowledge that exploring new modalities for research funding is likely a reality these days. Interesting stuff.