US-based Network Bio has entered into a research collaboration with Duke University to develop artificial intelligence (AI) models of human disease using biospecimens and clinical records.
Under the agreement, the biotechnology company will work alongside researchers at Duke to conduct molecular profiling on tissue and blood samples gathered from the academic institution’s biobanks.
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The resulting molecular details will be combined with de-identified patient information and treatment outcomes, subject to approved research protocols and data privacy regulations.
These integrated datasets are intended to train models to identify diseases earlier, discover new therapeutic targets, and pair patients with appropriate treatments.
Molecular profiling findings generated during the project will also be returned to Duke biobanks to assist ongoing academic investigations.
By using physical biospecimens, the initiative seeks to overcome limitations in biological AI, which frequently relies on animal models, cell lines, or public records that omit long-term patient outcomes.
The arrangement sets out terms for data licensing, AI development, and both commercial and scientific applications.
Network Bio co-founder and chief business officer Raphael Potter said: “Biobanked tissue and blood collections, paired with years of clinical follow-up, can help us train on how disease actually develops and responds to treatment in people.
“For our pharma and diagnostics partners, that means testing targets, biomarkers and patient selection against real human outcomes before a programme ever reaches the clinic.”
Network Bio is developing a patient world model that maps disease development and therapy response across human populations using tissue, blood, and medical histories.
Network Bio co-founder and CEO Asad Ali Ahmad said: “Academic medical centres hold vast records of human disease: molecular data contributed by research participants, linked to their clinical outcomes.
“We are thrilled to expand our network of academic medical centre biobank partners along with the University of Pennsylvania, Massachusetts General Brigham and the University of Colorado Anschutz.”
Network Bio focuses on precision diagnostics, biomarker identification, and drug development by linking multimodal patient information to machine learning (ML) systems.
