Foreword Artificial intelligence (AI) promises to have a transformative impact on healthcare – improving patient outcomes and supporting the broader healthcare system and industry by reducing costs and overcoming geographic and logistical barriers as it brings care where it is needed most. Since 2023, the World Economic Forum and ZS have collaborated to publish two reports on the impact of AI on global health and healthcare: Scaling Smart Solutions with AI in Health: Unlocking Impact on High-Potential Use Cases (June 2023) looked at the potential of AI to overcome the global shortage of healthcare workers, widening health disparities and unsustainable healthcare spending; Patient-First Health with Generative AI: Reshaping the Care Experience (January 2024) examined generative AI’s potential to empower patients and alleviate health system burdens. This white paper looks at the perennial challenge of efficiently shepherding experimental drugs through clinical trials. While testing new drugs in humans to evaluate their safety and efficacy has always been a complex and arduous process, the growing sophistication of trials has led to lengthening timelines, mounting costs and increasing failure rates. The result is drugs that take longer to get to patients and cost more when they do. Generative AI (Gen AI) offers the opportunity to reverse this trend by helping clinical development teams design smarter trials and bring new efficiencies throughout the clinical trial life cycle. Drawing on interviews with leaders spanning the life sciences, tech, government and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), this paper not only examines Gen AI’s promise to revolutionize clinical development and erode the barriers that stand in the way, but also considers how stakeholders throughout healthcare can mobilize to overcome these barriers.Shyam Bishen Head, Centre for Health and Healthcare, World Economic ForumPratap Khedkar Chief Executive Officer, ZS Intelligent Clinical Trials: Using Generative AI to Fast-Track Therapeutic InnovationsDecember 2024 Intelligent Clinical Trials: Using Generative AI to Fast-Track Therapeutic Innovations 3

Intelligent Clinical Trials 2024