Boehringer Ingelheim and Microsoft are collaborating on patient-centered, AI-driven clinical development
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Boehringer Ingelheim and Microsoft Aim to Accelerate AI-Driven clinical development as Strong Partners; Joint Research on Digital Patient Twins Aims to Help Deliver Safe and Effective therapies to Patients Faster; Potential for Further Joint Development Projects in animal health and Other Business Units
Boehringer Ingelheim and Microsoft have announced a strategic collaboration. The goal is to use artificial intelligence to help make safe and effective therapies available to patients more quickly. The collaboration focuses on joint research into the potential of so-called “Digital Patient Twins”—computer-generated representations of individual patients. These models use clinical and other relevant data to predict how disease progression and treatment outcomes might unfold under various scenarios.
The joint research will examine how disease progression can be modeled and treatment outcomes predicted. In addition, advanced simulations of clinical trials will be explored. The research will also examine whether such approaches could support so-called synthetic or hybrid control arms. These are alternatives to conventional control groups in clinical trials, in which existing data—or, in the case of hybrid control arms, a combination of existing data and data from a conventional control group—is used.
In the long term, these approaches are expected to help reduce the number of patients needed for control groups, accelerate the generation of clinical evidence, and improve the design of clinical trials. As a result, more trial participants could benefit from new treatments, and innovative drugs could become available to patients more quickly. Overall, these models could help make clinical research and drug development more efficient. Using clinical and other relevant data, these computer-based models could improve clinical research and evidence generation, with the goal of bringing new therapies to patients more quickly.
“The collaboration with Boehringer Ingelheim combines pharmaceutical and scientific expertise with Microsoft’s AI and engineering capabilities. Germany boasts world-class research and development in the pharmaceutical industry. Together, we want to explore how technology can open up new possibilities for clinical research,” said Agnes Heftberger, Corporate Vice President and CEO of Microsoft Germany and Austria.
Boehringer Ingelheim and Microsoft plan to jointly assess the scientific and technical feasibility of this approach across various disease and therapeutic areas—using modeling, prototyping, and evidence generation. They will begin with the field of lung health.
“Boehringer Ingelheim is currently developing the most extensive pipeline in its history. Our goal is to align clinical research even more closely with the unmet needs of patients. Exploring AI-driven approaches, including the future potential of digital patient twins, could contribute to more patient-centered, evidence-based, and efficient clinical research,” says Dr. Lykke Hinsch Gylvin, Chief Medical Officer at Boehringer Ingelheim. “It is crucial that scientific quality, patient safety, and regulatory requirements remain guaranteed at all times. This partnership supports us in pursuing this goal responsibly and in accordance with applicable requirements.”
AI Transformation Across the Entire Organization
Boehringer Ingelheim’s goal is to evolve into a Frontier AI company and to responsibly embed AI throughout the entire value chain. Building on one of the largest Microsoft 365 Copilot deployments in the pharmaceutical industry, the company combines broad access for employees with role-specific use cases, targeted skills development, clear governance structures, and a secure technological foundation.
“A successful AI implementation depends on more than just the technology,” says Harsha Deshmukh, a member of Boehringer Ingelheim’s Executive Board and head of IT and Global Business Services. “It is crucial to empower our employees to use AI responsibly and to unlock its potential through scalable solutions across the entire value chain and in all business areas.”
The partnership also includes the modernization of security and data center infrastructures, thereby supporting the establishment of a secure, resilient, and future-proof technological foundation for AI-driven innovations. Together, the companies will explore potential development projects in other areas, including animal health, business processes, and technology infrastructure.
Note: This article has been translated using a computer system without human intervention. LUMITOS offers these automatic translations to present a wider range of current news. Since this article has been translated with automatic translation, it is possible that it contains errors in vocabulary, syntax or grammar. The original article in German can be found here.
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