US-based biotechnology company Tempus has announced a strategic collaboration with AstraZeneca and Pathos to develop a multimodal foundation model in oncology.
The partnership aims to leverage Tempus’ AI capabilities and oncology data to generate biological and clinical insights, discover novel drug targets, and develop cancer therapeutics.
The foundation model will be shared among all three parties to enhance patient care.
The agreement includes $200m in data licensing and model development fees to Tempus.
AstraZeneca oncology R&D chief AI and data scientist Jorge Reis-Filho said: “Cancer drug discovery and clinical development are being transformed by the ability to analyse vast amounts of rich data using artificial intelligence.
“We are excited to collaborate with Tempus and Pathos to advance our data and AI-driven R&D strategy through the development of a multimodal oncology foundation model that we believe will accelerate and increase the probability of clinical success across our diverse pipeline.”
The collaboration builds on the existing partnership between Tempus and AstraZeneca, which began in 2021.
It aims to leverage Tempus’ AI-enabled platform and extensive multimodal data repository to advance therapeutic programmes in oncology globally.
Tempus is advancing precision medicine through AI in healthcare, with one of the largest libraries of multimodal data and provides AI-enabled precision medicine solutions.
Tempus founder and CEO Eric Lefkofsky said: “Generative AI and the emergence of large multimodal models is the final catalyst needed to usher in precision medicine in oncology at scale.
“Tempus has spent the last decade investing billions of dollars into collecting the necessary data needed for a foundation model of this kind to take shape.
“We look forward to working with AstraZeneca and Pathos to apply AI-enabled solutions to advance therapies in an effort to help patients live longer and healthier lives.”
Pathos board member and NEA co-CEO Mohamad Makhzoumi said: “As artificial intelligence becomes more prominent in drug discovery and development, the opportunity for companies like Pathos to build foundation models that seemed almost unimaginable a few years ago is now taking shape.
“We couldn’t be more excited to collaborate with Tempus and AstraZeneca given the potential of these models to improve patient outcomes.”
Recently, Tempus acquired Deep 6 AI, an AI-powered precision research platform for healthcare organisations and life sciences companies.
Deep 6 AI helps healthcare organisations de-risk clinical trials, accelerate recruitment, and generate real-world evidence with speed and precision.
