Boehringer Ingelheim & Microsoft Join Hands to Explore AI-powered Digital Patient Twins for Clinical Trials

The joint research will focus on disease-progression modelling, predictive outcome modelling, and advanced clinical trial simulations.

Boehringer Ingelheim and global tech giant Microsoft have announced a collaboration to explore the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and Digital Patient Twins in clinical development in clinical development.

The collaboration aims to accelerate drug development and bring new therapies to patients sooner.

The partnership focuses on evaluating digital patient twins, which are computer-based models of individual patients constructed from clinical and related data.

The digital twins are intended for use to simulate disease progression and explore potential outcomes under different scenarios. The collaboration will evaluate the scientific and technical feasibility of applying these models across multiple disease and therapeutic areas.

The joint research will focus on disease-progression modelling, predictive outcome modelling, and advanced clinical trial simulations.

The companies also aim to assess whether these approaches could support synthetic or hybrid control arms, which use existing data, either alone or alongside data from participants in a clinical trial, as alternatives to conventional control groups.

According to the companies, the research could help reduce the number of patients required in control groups, improve trial design and accelerate clinical evidence generation.

It is also expected to help make clinical research more efficient and potentially enable patients to access innovative medicines sooner.

Commenting on the partnership, Agnes Heftberger, Corporate Vice President and CEO of Microsoft Germany and Austria, said, “The collaboration with Boehringer Ingelheim brings together pharmaceutical and scientific expertise with Microsoft's capabilities in AI and engineering. Germany is home to world-class pharmaceutical research and development. Together, we want to explore how technology could open new opportunities for clinical research.”

Through the collaboration, Boehringer Ingelheim and Microsoft intend to assess scientific and technical feasibility through modeling, prototyping, and evidence generation across multiple disease and therapeutic areas, initially focusing on lung health.

The collaboration forms part of Boehringer Ingelheim's broader ambition to become a Frontier AI company across Human Pharma and Animal Health, embedding AI responsibly throughout its value chain.

It builds on earlier Microsoft Copilot deployments and further aims to combine broad employee access to AI tools with role-specific applications, skills development, governance and secure technology infrastructure.

The partnership will also cover security and data center modernisation to strengthen the technology foundations needed for secure, resilient and future-ready AI innovation.

“Exploring AI-enabled approaches, including the future potential of Digital Patient Twins, could support more patient-centric, informed and efficient clinical research. Crucially, scientific quality, patient safety and regulatory requirements must always be upheld. This partnership supports us in pursuing that ambition responsibly and in compliance with applicable requirements,” said Dr. Lykke Hinsch Gylvin, Chief Medical Officer at Boehringer Ingelheim.

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