Oracle sees AI partnership with AstraZeneca, M42 transforming clinical trials in Abu Dhabi

Oracle expects its new artificial intelligence collaboration with AstraZeneca and Abu Dhabi’s M42 to significantly reshape healthcare in the region by reducing the time and cost of conducting clinical trials, a senior executive at the technology company said.

The partnership, announced last week, brings together AstraZeneca’s scientific expertise with Oracle’s cloud infrastructure and AI tools to accelerate clinical research worldwide. The first initiative, focused on hypertension care and research in Abu Dhabi, will help clinical teams identify patients with uncontrolled high blood pressure, implement care and improve recruitment for trials, the companies stated.

“It’s going to have a massive impact,” Seema Verma, executive vice president and general manager of Oracle Health and Life Sciences, told The National on the sidelines of the Oracle AI World event in Las Vegas.

Reducing costs and speeding up trials

Drugmakers face pressure to lower prices, Verma said, noting that bringing a drug to market costs “billions and billions of dollars” and that recruiting patients and running trials are among the biggest obstacles. The goal is to “rethink how clinical trials are done from the time that you match the patient to the trial, to enrolling them into the trial, and then making the trials easier, faster to conduct,” she added.

“It’s a very exciting partnership … probably one of the first times you’ve seen a technology company, a provider, and a pharmaceutical company [come together],” Verma said.

Long delays persist between scientific breakthroughs and drugs reaching the market, partly because data must be moved manually from electronic health records (EHRs) into the separate electronic data capture systems used for clinical trials – a lag that AI is expected to help close.

“Why do these need to be two different systems? What if we empowered every clinician to be able to participate in a clinical trial?” she asked. “I don’t think anyone’s attempting that in the world, but we feel pretty confident that this can be solved.”

“There’s a lot of complexity to matching patients in clinical trials, and AI is the backbone,” she added.

Verma expects results within about a year, starting with whether the programme can increase trial participation and identify suitable sites, and ultimately whether it can make trials run faster. The collaboration is expected to expand to projects in the United States, the Middle East and Europe.

Abu Dhabi emerging as clinical trial hub

Abu Dhabi has become a centre for clinical research in recent years, covering areas such as oncology, Alzheimer’s, cardiovascular, renal and metabolic diseases.

Last week, AstraZeneca separately announced plans to invest $50 million in dozens of clinical trials in the UAE with Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi. In July, M42, Abu Dhabi’s Department of Health and US company Halia Therapeutics said they would carry out trials of a therapy that could prevent Alzheimer’s disease.

M42 last week also launched Ossi, an AI platform built with Microsoft that is estimated to let doctors spend up to 60 per cent more time with patients. The platform will be available at seven M42 centres in the UAE and Bahrain.

The Middle East is “incredibly innovative”, Verma said. “A lot of the population has genomic testing, genomic sequencing has been done, so they’re really positioned maybe to be the most innovative place in the world … they’re very open to leveraging AI.”

AI as a tool, not a replacement

Oracle is also adding AI tools to its EHR system, including ambient listening that generates notes from doctor-patient conversations and helps with coding and diagnoses.

“AI can automate all of those processes … so that means people are going to be able to access their healthcare providers more easily, get more real-time care, and hopefully that leads to better health outcomes for the patients and for the region,” Verma said.

The goal is to prevent disease, prevent the progression of disease, and have better outcomes, she added.

Healthcare systems globally are stretched as people live longer and doctors see more patients.

“The healthcare system is not prepared for this increased demand, so AI brings a tangible solution to the table,” Verma said.

As AI adoption rises, organisations are setting up regulations to deal with the risks, and those using the data must be trained, she said. “If you are relying on AI, make sure you understand where that data came from – so transparency and double-checking.”

“It’s not just putting out technology, but also training people to use the AI tools appropriately and effectively.”

Humans have to make the final decision, “and I think this is especially important in health care because health is not an exact science; it’s an art and a science”, she said. AI can highlight the latest treatments, but factors such as patient preference must also be considered.

“AI is a very powerful tool, but it doesn’t replace humans,” Verma said.