AstraZeneca and Oracle Team Up for AI Clinical Trials
AstraZeneca is partnering with Oracle to use AI and real-world data to speed up clinical trial recruitment and drug safety monitoring, starting in Abu Dhabi.
AstraZeneca said on Tuesday it is working with Oracle to use AI and real-world data to improve clinical research. The drugmaker wants to find eligible patients for clinical trials faster and monitor drug safety signals more closely. It is the latest in a growing wave of partnerships between pharmaceutical companies and big tech firms.
What the partnership will do
The collaboration combines AstraZeneca's drug development expertise with Oracle's AI, cloud and data capabilities. Instead of using AI to discover new drug targets, the two companies want to test practical ways to connect scientific research directly with clinical work. The first uses are: - Matching the right patients to clinical trials - Spotting serious diseases earlier through earlier diagnosis - Monitoring drug safety signals as trials run Initial work will cover AstraZeneca's core disease areas: cancer, cardiovascular, renal and metabolic diseases, respiratory and immunology, and rare diseases. https://www.morningstar.com/news/dow-jones/20261020629/astrazeneca-partners-with-oracle-to-refine-clinical-research-with-ai
First project starts in Abu Dhabi
The first program under the collaboration will focus on hypertension care and clinical research in Abu Dhabi, in partnership with UAE-based healthcare company M42. AstraZeneca said the collaboration will cover multiple international projects across the US, the Middle East and Europe.
Why clinical trials need AI
Patient recruitment remains one of the biggest challenges in clinical research. Delayed enrolment often extends trial timelines and pushes up development costs. Wrong trial designs have also hurt AstraZeneca before, with delays on its breast cancer drug and a nerve disorder treatment failure causing concern.
Part of a bigger pharma-AI wave
This is not AstraZeneca's only AI bet. Last week the company said it would partner with startup Insitro to deploy AI to explore new treatments for cardiometabolic diseases, in a deal valued at up to $1.5 billion. Wegovy maker Novo Nordisk has also entered deals with AI labs Anthropic and OpenAI, as well as Amazon.com, earlier this year. AstraZeneca is seeking to expand its medicine portfolio as it targets over $80 billion in annual revenue by 2030, and the AI partnership is part of that push to move new medicines to patients faster.