Oracle and AstraZeneca recently announced an agreement to use AI and real-world data to help clinicians identify patients for clinical trials, improve recruitment and bring research findings into everyday care.
“With this collaboration between AstraZeneca and Oracle, we can use real-world data to identify and match qualified patients with relevant clinical trials while cutting costs and bringing insights into care faster,” wrote Seema Verma, executive vice president and general manager of Oracle Health and Life Sciences, on X.
The non-binding agreement combines AstraZeneca’s scientific and therapeutic expertise with Oracle’s health data, cloud, AI and clinical software. Financial terms were not disclosed, and the companies have not announced a cost-savings target.
“Combining AstraZeneca’s world class science with Oracle’s deep data and technology expertise, we can help clinicians identify patients sooner, optimize clinical trials, and generate evidence continuously across the lifecycle of a medicine,” said AstraZeneca CEO Pascal Soriot.
The first planned program will focus on hypertension care and clinical research in Abu Dhabi, working with healthcare company M42. It aims to identify patients with uncontrolled hypertension, support guideline-directed care and improve trial recruitment.
AstraZeneca identified the US, Middle East and Europe as regions for the broader collaboration. Participating US health systems and a US rollout date have not been specified.
Why Oracle’s Data Matters
In September, Oracle expanded Life Sciences Data Intelligence with AI capabilities that allow researchers to explore patient groups using natural language and automate multistep analyses.
The platform supports trial recruitment, site selection and evidence generation. Oracle says its real-world data resource contains more than 122 million de-identified patient records, although the partners have not specified which datasets they will use.
“Fragmented data and disconnected workflows continue to slow the path to discovery,” Verma said in the September announcement.
A separate 2024 NIH-led TrialGPT study found a 42.6% reduction in patient-screening time in a pilot user evaluation. Oracle and AstraZeneca have not reported screening or enrollment results from their collaboration.
AstraZeneca’s Broader AI Push Across Drug Development
In January 2026, AstraZeneca acquired Modella AI, following a collaboration announced in July 2025. Modella’s pathology foundation models and AI agents support oncology research, biomarker discovery and clinical development.
AstraZeneca has also identified partnerships with Tempus and Pathos as part of its work on AI models that combine images, molecular data and clinical text.
Earlier discovery agreements include a December 2023 collaboration with Absci to develop an AI-designed antibody against an oncology target, and a June 2025 partnership with CSPC Pharmaceuticals using AI to discover and optimise oral drug candidates for chronic diseases.
On October 15, AstraZeneca announced a collaboration with insitro, involving $40 million upfront and up to approximately $1.46 billion in potential milestones, plus royalties. Insitro will apply its Virtual Human platform to identify disease drivers and advance discovery programs for MASH and cardiomyopathies.
In clinical development, Evinova, a separate health-tech company within the AstraZeneca group, provides software for trial design and delivery. In February, Bristol Myers Squibb agreed to deploy Evinova’s Cost Optimizer across its global portfolio to support trial-design decisions.
The Oracle collaboration covers clinical research and routine care. Alongside recruitment, the partners plan to explore earlier diagnosis, safety monitoring and the use of real-world evidence throughout a medicine’s lifecycle.
“Too many patients are diagnosed late or face a long journey to get the care they need,” said Anne-Claire Gerbaldi, AstraZeneca’s chief digital, data and AI officer.