CHICAGO, Illinois, May 2026
Tempus AI announced an expanded strategic collaboration with Bristol Myers Squibb aimed at improving the success rate of clinical development programs in oncology and neuroscience using artificial intelligence, multimodal real-world data, and advanced analytics. The initiative will initially support five clinical trial programs and focuses on enhancing the Probability of Technical & Regulatory Success (PTRS) across investigational therapies targeting major diseases including lung cancer, colon cancer, prostate cancer, and Alzheimer’s disease.
AI and Real-World Data to Improve Clinical Trial Success
Under the collaboration, Bristol Myers Squibb will utilize Lens, Tempus’ AI-powered analytical platform, to analyze large volumes of de-identified multimodal patient data. The platform combines clinical records, molecular profiling, genomic information, and treatment outcomes to generate deeper biological insights that may improve clinical trial planning and execution.
The partnership is designed to help researchers pressure-test trial assumptions, identify the most responsive patient populations, validate control arm strategies, and better understand disease heterogeneity before trials begin. By integrating AI with real-world evidence, the companies aim to reduce uncertainty during drug development and improve the likelihood of both technical and regulatory success.
The collaboration will initially prioritize solid tumor oncology programs, including therapies targeting non-small cell lung cancer, colorectal cancer, and prostate cancer. The initiative will also extend into neuroscience research, particularly in Alzheimer’s disease, where identifying optimal patient populations remains a major challenge for drug developers.
Tempus Lens Platform Expands Role in Precision Medicine
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Tempus stated that its multimodal data platform enables researchers to uncover hidden biological signals that are difficult to detect using traditional development methods. According to the company, combining molecular insights with real-world clinical outcomes allows pharmaceutical developers to design smarter and more efficient clinical studies.
Ryan Fukushima, CEO of Data and Apps at Tempus, said the collaboration seeks to move beyond traditional clinical development models by using AI to better connect patient biology with treatment outcomes. The goal is to improve confidence in clinical trial decisions while accelerating development timelines for investigational therapies.
Bristol Myers Squibb emphasized that the partnership reflects a broader industry shift toward data-driven clinical development strategies. The company noted that using AI-supported analytics can improve decision quality during critical stages of drug development, particularly in complex diseases with highly variable patient responses.
Collaboration Builds on Existing Oncology Initiatives
The expanded agreement builds upon an existing relationship between Tempus and Bristol Myers Squibb, including deployment of the Next Pathways program across multiple community-based healthcare systems in the United States. That initiative focuses on identifying and addressing treatment gaps for patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (aNSCLC).
The announcement also highlights the increasing role of AI-powered precision medicine platforms within the biopharmaceutical industry. As pharmaceutical companies face rising clinical trial costs and regulatory complexity, collaborations involving real-world evidence, machine learning, and multimodal healthcare data are becoming central to improving development efficiency and accelerating access to innovative therapies.
Industry analysts view partnerships like this as part of a broader transformation in clinical research, where AI is increasingly used to improve patient selection, optimize trial design, reduce failure rates, and support regulatory decision-making.
Source: Tempus AI press release
