Lifebit's REAL platform will monitor and interpret scientific publications and other open sources to identify infectious disease outbreaks.

Project will combine real-world evidence with AI to track transboundary infections.

Boehringer Ingelheim has announced a multi-year partnership with biotech firm Lifebit to detect and report global disease outbreaks. 

Through the partnership, scientists will work collaboratively to combine real-world evidence and the latest AI algorithms to identify diseases, particularly those that cross borders, and respond accordingly. 

Lifebit's REAL platform analyses data harvested from millions of tweets, news articles and scientific publications to notify users of relevant disease outbreaks, such as COVID-19. 

As well as speeding up the detection of the latest outbreaks, researchers hope the insights will enable Boehringer’s research and development efforts to be prioritised accordingly.

“External innovation is becoming an increasingly important aspect of our R&D playbook. Therefore, we are strategically partnering with Lifebit to leverage AI to monitor and interpret scientific and other sources in real-time, enabling us to track data related to animal diseases,” commented Dr Eric Haaksma, head of animal health global innovation at Boehringer Ingelheim.

“This, in turn, will accelerate the detection process as the vast amounts of scientific relevant information being produced at many levels cannot be feasibly collected and analysed manually.”

Lifebit CEO Dr Maria Chatzou-Dunford added: “At Lifebit, we thrive at connecting both, locked-up sensitive biomedical data from around the world and AI-driven automated RWE data insights – so that companies at the cutting edge of science, like Boehringer Ingelheim, can make faster and smarter decisions – delivering insights that change lives.”