Baidu Lingyi Zhihui and Rundo Pharma Forge Strategic Partnership to Pioneer a New Paradigm in Digital Clinical Research
In recent years, with the rapid development of China’s innovative pharmaceutical market, the demand for drug-related clinical studies has intensified. For the clinical research industry, this trend presents both the benefits of scale expansion and the challenges posed by increasingly complex requirements. How to foster cross-organizational collaboration among stakeholders, establish an efficient online collaborative system, and achieve unified, high-quality clinical trial data collection has become a pressing challenge for the entire industry. As digital technology plays an increasingly vital role across various sectors of the socio-economy, AI and digital technologies are gradually emerging as the key to breaking through bottlenecks and driving transformation in the clinical research industry.
On September 28, 2022, R&D Pharmaceuticals and Baidu Lingyi Zhihui held a strategic cooperation signing ceremony and digital clinical symposium in Shanghai. Ms. Zhang Qing, Deputy Director of the Shanghai Municipal Drug Administration; Mr. Wang Nai, Deputy District Mayor of the Huangpu District People's Government of Shanghai; and Professor Ma Jun, Director of the Harbin Institute of Hematology, attended the event and delivered speeches.
Rundong Pharmaceutical R&D (Shanghai) is one of the leading clinical research organizations in China. It was the first in the industry to achieve ISO 9001:2008 quality management system certification integrated with CRO industry standards, and it passed an inspection by the U.S. FDA in 2014. As a key initiator and promoter of the China CRO Alliance, the company has successfully conducted more than 1,500 clinical trial projects from Phase I to Phase IV, making significant contributions to industry development. Combining extensive domestic operational experience with advanced management concepts from top international CROs, Rundong Pharmaceutical ranks among the industry leaders in service quality, operational efficiency, and management capabilities.
Mr. Jiang Hai, CEO & President of Runda Pharmastated that it hopes to leverage AI to empower CROs and drive a technological revolution, aiming to establish a new model of information sharing and collaboration, enable digital transformation in drug development, and promote innovative development in digital clinical research. In the future, Rundo Pharma aspires to become an industry-leading, truly digitally empowered CRO enterprise, better serving the pharmaceutical industry while fostering the growth of China’s new drug R&D sector, thereby contributing to addressing unmet clinical needs and improving patient outcomes.
Lingyi Zhihui is Baidu’s AI healthcare brand. Upholding the vision of “empowering the broader health industry with evidence-based AI,” and leveraging the core technologies and AI capabilities of Baidu Brain, it has launched integrated solutions including clinical decision support, intelligent medical records, fundus screening, chronic disease management, and medical big data services. In recent years, Baidu Lingyi Zhihui has conducted in-depth practices in four key areas: supporting hospitals, empowering government agencies, benefiting patients, and serving pharmaceutical and medical device companies. It has currently reached 31 provinces, municipalities, and autonomous regions, covering more than 600 hospitals and over 3,400 primary healthcare institutions, serving tens of thousands of physicians and benefiting tens of millions of patients. In serving pharmaceutical and medical device enterprises, Baidu Lingyi Zhihui comprehensively empowers the entire clinical trial process—including subject recruitment, remote monitoring, and real-world studies (RWS)—by building relevant systems. Meanwhile, through products and services such as pharmaceutical screening hardware, AI follow-up tools, and Xiaodu smart speakers, it provides digital and intelligent services across the entire diagnosis and treatment cycle, from patient awareness to patient management.
Mr. He Mingke, Senior Vice President of Baidu GroupIt was stated that the integration of digital technologies with the pharmaceutical industry will undoubtedly bring new opportunities for industrial development; however, achieving this from technology and application to industrialization requires collaborative efforts and exploration by all parties. It is hoped that the partnership between Rundo Pharmaceutical and Baidu will leverage their respective strengths, achieve deep integration in resources, technology, products, and services, and establish a new benchmark for digital development in drug R&D, starting with their cooperation on the development of digital clinical research systems.
Following the signing ceremony, a digital clinical symposium was held, where experts from the clinical sector, government agencies, and industry convened to engage in in-depth discussions on the challenges and opportunities facing digital clinical development. Their insights provided valuable guidance for the future collaboration between Rundo Medicine and Baidu Lingyi Zhihui.
In the post-pandemic era, technology has played a pivotal role in various aspects of socio-economic development, with healthcare emerging as a key focus area for Baidu’s AI initiatives. Baidu Lingyi Zhihui aims to leverage its capabilities and strengths to empower the broader health industry, utilizing technology to make high-quality medical and healthcare services universally accessible. Currently, Baidu not only provides patients with a one-stop health management service platform and offers doctors and hospitals leading smart healthcare solutions, but also delivers next-generation digital service platforms for pharmaceutical companies and CROs. Through these efforts, Baidu seeks to harness the power of technology to accelerate the digital and intelligent transformation of the healthcare industry.