(Alliance News) - AstraZeneca PLC on Monday launched Evinova, a new health technology business focused on accelerating innovation across the life sciences sector, delivery of clinical trials and better health outcomes.

The Cambridge, England-based pharmaceutical company said Evinova will operate as a separate health technology firm within AstraZeneca.

Evinova will focus on bringing to market "established and scaled digital technology solutions already being used globally by AstraZeneca" to optimise clinical trial design and delivery, AstraZeneca said. This will reduce the time and cost of developing new medicines, bring care closer to home for patients and reduce the burden on health systems, it added.

AstraZeneca said Evinova will also pursue opportunities in digital remote patient monitoring and digital therapeutics with a pipeline of digital innovations in these areas.

Evinova has its first strategic collaborations with contract research organisations Parexel International (MA) Corp and Fortrea Inc, AstraZeneca said, offering Evinova digital health solutions to its customer base.

This is alongside collaborating with Accenture PLC and Amazon.com Inc's Amazon Web Services to "accelerate industry adoption and sustain and expand the global reach of [Evinova]'s digital products".

"The future of medicine development can be accelerated with digital solutions. We believe Evinova's combination of scientific expertise and track record in developing AI-enabled digital technologies at scale, provides a real opportunity to fundamentally improve patient care, drive healthcare transformation and reduce carbon emissions," said AstraZeneca Chief Executive Officer Pascal Soriot.

Evinova President Cristina Duran commented: "We are excited to bring the portfolio of globally-scaled digital solutions developed to serve AstraZeneca's drug development pipeline to the wider life sciences community. We believe this will help propel the sector forward in digital health, as we know healthcare professionals and regulators need digital solutions that work across pharma and support patients broadly.

"Coming from within the sector and with proven experience, Evinova will be uniquely placed to deliver science-based, evidence-led and human experience-driven solutions with the aim of improving patient experience and outcomes."

Shares in AstraZeneca were down 1.5% to 10,102.00 pence each in London on Monday morning.

By Greg Rosenvinge, Alliance News senior reporter

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