Pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca is teaming up with tech powerhouse Oracle to use artificial intelligence to identify patients for clinical trials and monitor potential safety risks, in a move aimed at speeding up drug development and improving medical research.
The partnership will combine AstraZeneca’s drug development expertise with Oracle’s AI technology and healthcare data capabilities to help researchers match patients with clinical trials and identify potential safety concerns.
The collaboration will initially focus on cancer, cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, immunology and rare diseases, with the technology potentially helping doctors diagnose serious illnesses earlier.
AstraZeneca CEO Pascal Soriot said the partnership could help researchers and healthcare providers improve patient care through AI-driven technology.
“We can help clinicians identify patients sooner, optimize clinical trials, and generate evidence continuously across the lifecycle of a medicine,” Soriot said in a statement.
The first project will focus on hypertension research in Abu Dhabi, in partnership with UAE-based healthcare company M42.
Patient recruitment remains a major obstacle in clinical research, with enrollment delays often extending trial timelines and driving up development costs.
AstraZeneca has also faced clinical trial setbacks, including delays involving a breast cancer treatment and the failure of a nerve disorder drug, raising concerns about its drug development efforts, according to Reuters.
The companies have signed a non-binding agreement and have not disclosed financial terms.
The partnership comes as AstraZeneca seeks to expand its drug portfolio and reach more than $80 billion in annual revenue by 2030.
Reuters contributed to this report.