Two NHS trusts have signed a strategic research agreement (SRA) with AI company Sensyne Health.

George Eliot Hospital NHS Trust in Nuneaton and Wye Valley NHS Trust in Hereford have both signed the agreement which gives Sensyne access to annoymised patient data.

Sensyne Health will apply artificial intelligence to the data for analysis.

This data is then used to find potential clinical solutions which can be later sold to pharmaceutical companies.

In return the trusts will receive a £2.5 million equity stake in Sensyne Health (at a price of £1.75 per share) and will also benefit from royalties that arise from any discoveries.

The royalties the Trust receives will be reinvested back into the NHS which can fund further research and can help deliver higher quality patient care at lower cost.

Both Geroge Eliot and Wye Valley join Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, South Warwickshire NHS Foundation Trust and Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust which have all signed SRAs with Sensyne Health.

The Oxford-based company has previously promised that no data is sold, nor is any ownership or control of data transferred to it or its pharmaceutical collaborators.

Lord Paul Drayson, former Labour science minister and CEO of Sensyne Health, said he was “delighted” that the two trusts had joined the company’s research partnership.

He added: “Together, we aim to make new discoveries that will improve care for patients, accelerate medical research and provide a return back into the NHS.”

On the same day, the company also announced a three-year collaboration with the University of Oxford’s Big Data Institute (BDI).

The collaboration aims to establish a research alliance to develop and evaluate the use of clinical artificial intelligence (clinical AI) and digital technology to understand the complexities of chronic disease.

No financial terms were disclosed but it was revealed that the programme will use data sets provided by NHS trusts which have the SRA with Sensyne Health.

It is hoped the programme will help discover and develop new medicines and improve patient care pathways for chronic diseases, which an initial focus on chronic kidney disease and cardiovascular disease.

In August 2018, Sensyne Health revealed it was planning to raise £60million by opening up its shares on the stock market.