Microsoft and AstraZeneca Launch AI Factory for Health to Accelerate European Digital Health Startups

Leiphone.com Note: Recently, Microsoft and AstraZeneca announced that they will join hands to launch the AI Factory for Health, an accelerator focused on incubating European AI + digital health startups.

Leifeng.com has learned that the incubator offers a three-month service program targeting startups that provide AI-based health innovation solutions for patients or healthcare professionals.

Startups selected for the AI Factory for Health will directly benefit from AstraZeneca’s knowledge and expertise in pathology, patient needs insights, and healthcare services, as well as its legal expertise, institutional access, and health data across various European countries. Support ranges from solution guidance and technical advice to marketing assistance.

Microsoft provides cloud computing, business channel networks, and other personalized support to each startup at every stage of its growth.

Currently, many medical projects and treatment protocols are being transformed by digital technologies, making it possible to provide personalized treatments to patients in the future. Artificial intelligence, machine learning, big data, and automation have all improved processes across multiple stages of patient care—from prevention and diagnosis to treatment and post-treatment life management—to varying degrees.

“At AstraZeneca, putting patients first is the fundamental principle that guides everything we do. We believe that by deepening our understanding of diseases, as well as patients’ expectations and experiences, we can further improve their quality of life. We also believe that placing patients at the center of the healthcare system is a collective effort that leverages the expertise and skills of new partners. This is why I am so excited to see the AstraZeneca and Microsoft teams join forces,” said Iskra Reic, Executive Vice President for Europe and Canada at AstraZeneca.

Recently, Microsoft has been making frequent moves in the healthcare sector. In mid-August, Microsoft recruited David Rhew, former Chief Medical Officer of Samsung Electronics, to serve as its Global Chief Medical Officer and Vice President of Healthcare. Additionally, Microsoft’s healthcare team has expanded to include former Google executive Gary Moore, Josh Mandel from Verily, and Jim Weinstein, former CEO of Dartmouth-Hitchcock.

Microsoft’s exploration of the healthcare industry has been marked by significant ups and downs, with many consumer-facing initiatives ending in failure, including the Microsoft Health dashboard, Microsoft wearable devices, and the HealthVault personal health record system.

Although HealthVault was launched by Microsoft in partnership with prominent organizations such as the American Heart Association, Johnson & Johnson, and Allscripts, it encountered the same challenges as its then-competitor, Google Health. On April 6, 2019, Lei Feng Network reported that Microsoft had sent an email to HealthVault users, officially announcing the shutdown of the HealthVault service on November 20.

In recent years, Microsoft has focused its attention on enterprise customers, launching new providers and health plan-focused products designed to enable clinicians to communicate and share information securely, assist patients in navigation, and eliminate technical barriers to interoperability. In areas such as natural language processing and machine learning, Microsoft also aims to collaborate with hospitals to help clinicians diagnose and treat patients.

Leifeng.com has learned that over the past year, Microsoft Corporation has signed multiple significant agreements, including a partnership with Providence St. Joseph Health and a collaboration with Walgreens to help innovate healthcare services.

In addition, Microsoft has also partnered with Oxford Biomedica to leverage cloud computing and machine learning to improve gene therapy.

This collaboration between Microsoft and AstraZeneca will further enhance its intelligent healthcare ecosystem for enterprise services.