Oracle announced that it has signed a non-binding agreement with AstraZeneca to test the potential for AI and real world patient data to find trial-eligible patients faster, aimed at easing recruitment, which remains the biggest bottleneck in drug research.

The announcement came from Oracle’s corporate newsroom, with AstraZeneca also issuing its own release the same day.

The partnership brings together pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca and Oracle’s health data, cloud, AI, analytics and clinical workflow tools. Oracle described the arrangement as an agreement to “explore” selected use cases, and not as a binding commercial contract, leaving both companies free to walk away if the initial setup fails to deliver results.

The companies say the goal is to address a problem in clinical research where recruiting patients is costly and time-consuming, with many never even getting to know about trials they may qualify for. Both companies plan to use AI to identify eligible patients earlier, helping care teams connect them with relevant studies sooner.

The initial focus will cover four areas. These include oncology, cardiovascular, renal and metabolic diseases, respiratory and immunology, and rare diseases.

How the two sides describe the goal

AstraZeneca CEO Pascal Soriot said the partnership combines healthcare and AI expertise to speed the path from drug discovery to patient care, according to Oracle’s press release. He stated that pairing AstraZeneca’s scientific expertise with Oracle’s data and technology could help clinicians identify eligible patients earlier and improve clinical trial design and execution.

Oracle CEO Mike Sicilia said healthcare offers some of AI’s most significant opportunities, adding that better use of data could help translate research into improved patient outcomes, according to the same release.

AstraZeneca Chief Digital, Data and AI Officer Anne-Claire Gerbaldi also added that connecting data across research, clinical trials and routine care could improve safety monitoring and help diagnose patients earlier.

Oracle and AstraZeneca look into continuous learning model

The partners plan to use a continuous learning model that feeds insights from clinical trials and routine care into future study designs, safety monitoring and treatment decisions.

In order to create this ‘model’, they plan to establish shared governance, reusable technical tools and common measures to assess their results.

Oracle Health and Life Sciences head Seema Verma said patient-identification efforts would remain “under the governance of the health systems delivering care,” according to Oracle’s statement.

The companies stated that successful pilot projects could be expanded to more diseases and countries. However, the agreement includes no public timeline, budget or binding targets.

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