Boston– Modella AI has entered a multi-year agreement with pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca to advance the use of artificial intelligence in oncology clinical development. The collaboration will give AstraZeneca access to Modella’s cutting-edge multi-modal AI foundation models, which are designed to extract complex features from a variety of biomedical data sources.
The partnership aims to accelerate clinical research and drug discovery across AstraZeneca’s global oncology portfolio, using Modella’s AI technology to streamline processes such as biomarker identification and patient stratification.
“Foundation models are transforming precision medicine,” said Jill Stefanelli, CEO of Modella AI. “When integrated with AstraZeneca’s research engine, our multimodal AI can drive faster, data-driven development and open the door to fully autonomous AI agents in biomedical R&D.”
Modella’s platform enables the integration of diverse datasets—including imaging, genomics, and clinical data—into a unified AI-driven research tool. AstraZeneca plans to use the models to scale its oncology research pipeline, aiming to reduce development time and improve outcomes for cancer patients.
“At AstraZeneca, AI is embedded in every part of our clinical development process,” said Jorge Reis-Filho, Chief AI and Data Scientist, Oncology R&D. “By combining foundation models with our proprietary datasets and expertise, we’re confident we can boost the success rate of our oncology trials.”
The collaboration underscores a growing trend among pharmaceutical companies to integrate advanced AI systems into drug development, with the promise of faster innovation and more personalized treatment options.
