Skip to main content

Oracle tells employees it donated a COVID-19 'therapeutic learning system' that can help speed up the development of a treatment to the US government (ORCL)

By

Larry Ellison and Safra Catz

  • Oracle founder Larry Ellison and CEO Safra Catz told employees Tuesday that the tech giant has set up cloud tools to help the US government find a COVID-19 cure faster, according to a copy of an internal memo seen by Business Insider.
  • Oracle has created applications to help scientists run clinical trials on possible cures, including antimalarial drugs endorsed by President Donald Trump but which health professionals say need more definitive tests.
  • The company also created a tool, called "therapeutic learning system, accessible in the US and other countries, which the US government, state agencies and other countries could use for gathering real-time data on the effectiveness of specific treatments.
  • The tool would essentially serve as a global crowdsourcing system for evaluating the different treatments and remedies being tried by physicians and individuals throughout the world, according to a source familiar with the situation.
  • Ellison and Catz are among Trump's top supporters in the tech industry, with the former recently hosting a fundraising dinner for the president's re-election campaign.
  • Click here for more BI Prime stories.

Oracle told its employees Tuesday that it has set up a cloud system that would help the US government find a cure for COVID-19 faster, according to a copy of an internal memo seen by Business Insider.

Oracle also said in the memo that it set up and donated to the US government a "therapeutic learning system" which would allow doctors and patients to "record responses to promising COVID-19 drug therapies." This would make it possible to collect "real-world data" from the US and other countries on the effectiveness of specific COVID-19 treatments.

"We are proud to use our resources and talent to make a difference," Ellison and Catz said in the memo. "We will win this war!" The memo was signed "Larry and Safra."

The "therapeutic learning system" would essentially serve as a global crowdsourcing tool for evaluating the different treatments and remedies being tried by physicians and individuals throughout the world, according to a source familiar with the situation. 

The data, which will be anonymized, will be accessible for free to the Department of Health and Human Services and the health agencies of states and other countries. It is not intended to replace clinical trials, but would offer more insights into the treatments being tried worldwide, the source said.

The memo specifically cites efforts in helping clinicians assess the possibility of using antimalarial drugs like hydroxychloroquine in COVID-19 treatment. President Donald Trump has been criticized for publicly endorsing malaria drugs for the treatment of COVID-19. However, leading medical professionals, including Dr. Anthony Fauci, the Trump administration's key infectious-disease expert, said clinical tests were needed to make sure the substances are safe and effective.

Ellison and Catz are among Trump's top supporters in the tech industry. Catz had served as a member of his transition team after the 2016 election. Ellison recently held a fundraising dinner for Trump, which sparked a protest by some Oracle employees.

Cloud tools

Oracle founder Larry Ellison and CEO Safra Catz also told employees that the tech giant has deployed cloud applications to the US government to help evaluate proposed drugs for the pandemic. 

Oracle is the leading provider of enterprise technology, including sophisticated database systems used to store and manage information of some of the biggest corporations and government agencies. These technologies could be critical in performing expedited clinical tests rapidly with high degrees of accuracy.

The cloud tools "will gather data necessary to enable health professionals to answer a few questions: What drugs, at what dosages when administered, are effective in treating or preventing the COVID-19 virus?"

Scientists and health professionals will be able to use its cloud tools to run clinical trials to test seven COVID-19 drugs and vaccines. The clinical trials involve 250 institutional sites in 17 countries, the Oracle executives said.

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: How networks treat the Democratic debates like reality TV



from Tech Insider https://ift.tt/2Ux2BF5
via IFTTT
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Instagram accidentally reinstated Pornhub’s banned account

By
After years of on-and-off temporary suspensions, Instagram permanently banned Pornhub’s account in September. Then, for a short period of time this weekend, the account was reinstated. By Tuesday, it was permanently banned again. “This was done in error,” an Instagram spokesperson told TechCrunch. “As we’ve said previously, we permanently disabled this Instagram account for repeatedly violating our policies.” Instagram’s content guidelines prohibit  nudity and sexual solicitation . A Pornhub spokesperson told TechCrunch, though, that they believe the adult streaming platform’s account did not violate any guidelines. Instagram has not commented on the exact reasoning for the ban, or which policies the account violated. It’s worrying from a moderation perspective if a permanently banned Instagram account can accidentally get switched back on. Pornhub told TechCrunch that its account even received a notice from Instagram, stating that its ban had been a mistake (that message itse...
Post a Comment
Read more

Watch Aidy Bryant *completely* lose it as 'SNL' roasts political pundits

By
On Saturday Night Live , there are breaks and then there's whatever happened here. The Season 45 premiere featured a sketch that was meant to expose the empty noisemaking of political punditry on TV. But part of the joke involved a series of quick costume changes, and some weirdness during one of those switches led to a complete and total breakdown. Aidy Bryant, the segment's host, couldn't take it. She manages to keep it together until what appears to be an accidental wide shot exposes some of the magic as we see a woman who's probably a member of the SNL wardrobe crew fiddling with Aidy's costume. Read more... More about Saturday Night Live , Aidy Bryant , Entertainment , and Movies Tv Shows from Mashable https://ift.tt/2okrAOq via IFTTT
Post a Comment
Read more

California Gov. Newsom vetoes bill SB 1047 that aims to prevent AI disasters

By
California Gov. Gavin Newsom has vetoed bill SB 1047, which aims to prevent bad actors from using AI to cause "critical harm" to humans. The California state assembly passed the legislation by a margin of 41-9 on August 28, but several organizations including the Chamber of Commerce had urged Newsom to veto the bill . In his veto message on Sept. 29, Newsom said the bill is "well-intentioned" but "does not take into account whether an Al system is deployed in high-risk environments, involves critical decision-making or the use of sensitive data. Instead, the bill applies stringent standards to even the most basic functions - so long as a large system deploys it."  SB 1047 would have made the developers of AI models liable for adopting safety protocols that would stop catastrophic uses of their technology. That includes preventive measures such as testing and outside risk assessment, as well as an "emergency stop" that would completely shut down...
Post a Comment
Read more