The Janssen (China) Research and Development Center of Johnson & Johnson (China) Investment Co Ltd signed a Memorandum of Understanding on strategic collaboration with Shanghai OrigiMed Co Ltd in Shanghai on Friday to promote harnessing real-world data for regulatory use and using innovative applications to accelerate clinical development.

By embracing artificial intelligence and advanced analytics with both structured and unstructured data, the collaboration will help provide a comprehensive picture of patients in a real-world setting, deepen the understanding of current therapies, optimize clinical trial designs, and support data-driven decision-making throughout the life cycle of drug development, the two partners said.

The use of real-world evidence in clinical development has been the focus of several key policies released by the Chinese government since the beginning of last year.

Its use has also been encouraged in the Hainan Boao Lecheng International Medical Pilot Zone, where the use of drugs approved in some foreign markets but not yet in China has generated valuable real-world evidence for Chinese patients.

"We see great potential in China for designing and implementing real-world evidence studies in a more systematic, rigorous way, using high quality data and a standardized infrastructure," said Najat Khan, chief data science officer and global head of R&D strategy and operations, Janssen R&D.

"At Janssen R&D, we're deeply invested in the potential of data science to increase research and development efficiency and drive real-world impact."

The collaboration will also explore opportunities for the development and registry of diagnostics and companion diagnostics for early patient access, taking advantage of supportive government policies, such as the Plan for the Development of Innovative Regulatory of Drugs and Medical Devices in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao region, known as the Greater Bay Area of China.

Li Zili, vice-president and head of Asia Pacific R&D, Janssen Research & Development, LLC said, "As a supporter of the Healthy China 2030 initiative, we'll leverage data science to transform how we discover and develop drugs, delivering transformative medicines to patients in China and around the world."