Pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca has announced a global collaboration with Oracle to explore the use of artificial intelligence (AI), cloud infrastructure and real-world healthcare data to improve clinical trial recruitment, patient identification and drug safety monitoring.
Announced on October 20, 2026, the partnership will combine AstraZeneca's clinical development and regulatory expertise with Oracle's healthcare data, AI and analytics capabilities. The companies aim to examine how technology can connect clinical research with routine patient care and support evidence-based medical decisions.
The collaboration will initially focus on oncology, cardiovascular, renal and metabolic diseases, respiratory and immunology, and rare diseases. It will also explore applications involving earlier diagnosis, patient matching and the use of real-world evidence throughout the development and monitoring of medicines.
Patient recruitment remains a challenge in clinical research, with delays in identifying and enrolling eligible participants often extending development timelines and increasing costs.
Under the proposed arrangement, AI-enabled systems could help healthcare professionals identify patients who meet trial eligibility requirements and improve the coordination of research activities.
The first programme will focus on hypertension care and clinical research in Abu Dhabi, in partnership with UAE-based healthcare company M42. It will examine ways to identify patients with uncontrolled hypertension, support guideline-directed care and improve recruitment for relevant clinical trials.
Pascal Soriot, Chief Executive Officer of AstraZeneca, said the collaboration would connect pharmaceutical research with healthcare technology.
“Combining AstraZeneca’s world class science with Oracle’s deep data and technology expertise, we can help clinicians identify patients sooner, optimise clinical trials, and generate evidence continuously across the lifecycle of a medicine,” Soriot said.
Mike Sicilia, Chief Executive Officer of Oracle, said AI and healthcare data could help connect scientific developments with patient care.
“By bringing AstraZeneca’s scientific expertise together with Oracle’s data, cloud, AI, and healthcare capabilities, we have an opportunity to help accelerate research, connect more patients to clinical trials, and ultimately bring relevant insights into care faster,” Sicilia said.
The companies intend to explore projects across the United States, the Middle East and Europe, working with local healthcare organisations and regulatory authorities.
The collaboration will use de-identified real-world healthcare data under privacy, security and governance arrangements. AstraZeneca will not receive patient-identifiable information, and individual projects will require appropriate legal, regulatory, ethical and institutional approvals before proceeding.
The companies also plan to establish shared governance arrangements and outcome measures to evaluate whether successful approaches can be extended to other therapeutic areas and markets.
AstraZeneca and Oracle have signed a non-binding term sheet outlining the proposed collaboration. Financial details have not been disclosed.
The announcement reflects the companies' plans to assess AI applications across clinical research and healthcare delivery, although the proposed programmes remain subject to further evaluation and implementation.
Disclaimer: This article may include information derived from interviews, press releases, public statements, research, company communications and other publicly available or third-party sources. Such material may be summarised, paraphrased or contextualised for journalistic and editorial purposes. All rights in third-party content remain with their respective owners.