Novartis announced on Monday that it will conduct a four-year research project in partnership with Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg (FAU) to use artificial intelligence (AI) and anonymized health data to create "digital twins" of patients.

The Swiss pharmaceutical group explained that these virtual replicas could serve as control groups in clinical trials for cancer, thereby reducing the need for real-life participants.

A recent study conducted with the Helmholtz Zentrum München demonstrated the feasibility of the concept, as AI models achieved high accuracy in predicting overall survival and progression-free survival in patients with advanced breast cancer.

According to Novartis, this approach could improve participant recruitment, reduce trial dropouts, and fill data gaps, particularly in rare diseases or when ethical constraints are likely to complicate the conduct of traditional trials.