AstraZeneca and Oracle plan global AI collaboration, with first programme in Abu Dhabi

AstraZeneca and Oracle Health and Life Sciences have announced a global collaboration to explore the use of artificial intelligence (AI), cloud infrastructure and real-world healthcare data in clinical research and patient care, with the first programme planned for Abu Dhabi in partnership with healthcare company M42.

The initial programme will focus on hypertension care and clinical research, aiming to help healthcare teams identify patients with uncontrolled high blood pressure, improve adherence to clinical guidelines and identify suitable participants for clinical trials.

The wider collaboration will explore applications across several stages of medicine development and patient care, including clinical trial recruitment, earlier diagnosis, drug safety monitoring and the use of real-world evidence. The companies said projects would span AstraZeneca’s core therapeutic areas, including oncology, cardiovascular, renal and metabolic diseases, respiratory and immunology, and rare diseases.

The companies also plan to pursue projects in the United States, the Middle East and Europe, working with local governments and within applicable regulatory frameworks. They said the aim was to develop approaches that could potentially be scaled across healthcare systems.

The collaboration will use de-identified real-world data under governance, privacy and security arrangements. AstraZeneca will not receive patient-identifiable information, according to the announcement. Each proposed project will undergo separate reviews and will proceed only after the necessary legal, regulatory, ethical, privacy and institutional safeguards are in place.

The companies have signed a non-binding term sheet. They have not disclosed financial details of the agreement.