BENGALURU, October 20 2026, AstraZeneca has partnered with Oracle to apply artificial intelligence (AI) and real-world healthcare data to clinical trials, aiming to improve patient recruitment, monitor safety signals and accelerate drug development.
The pharmaceutical company said on Tuesday that the collaboration would combine its drug development expertise with Oracle’s AI technology and healthcare data capabilities to identify suitable clinical trial participants and support research activities.
Initial efforts will focus on cancer, cardiovascular, respiratory, immunological and rare diseases. The technology could also help support earlier diagnosis of serious medical conditions.
The first project will focus on hypertension research in Abu Dhabi, in partnership with UAE-based healthcare company M42.
Patient recruitment remains a major challenge in clinical research, as delays in enrolling participants can extend trial timelines and increase development costs.
AstraZeneca has also faced setbacks in drug development, including delays involving a breast cancer drug and the failure of a treatment for a neurological disorder, highlighting the risks associated with clinical research.
The partnership comes as AstraZeneca seeks to expand its medicine portfolio and address challenges in drug development, as it targets annual revenue exceeding US$80 billion by 2030.
-THEEDGEMALAYSIA
