Independent scientific research institute RTI International has announced a partnership and strategic equity investment in Navidence, an AI-native technology company working to standardize how diseases, treatments, and outcomes are defined across clinical research and real-world evidence generation.
The collaboration will pair RTI’s scientific and epidemiological expertise with Navidence’s data science and medical informatics platform, with a focus on product development and commercialization. Navidence, founded in 2022, has built its offering around what it calls Computable Operational Definitions, or CODefs — standardized, human- and machine-readable definitions of key study elements, including diagnoses, therapies, outcomes, and patient eligibility criteria. The problem the company targets is longstanding: inconsistent definitions of even basic clinical concepts can require weeks or months of manual effort from cross-functional research teams, and introduce errors that undermine the reproducibility and credibility of studies underpinning billions of dollars in life sciences investment.
RTI’s investment in Navidence follows earlier strategic investments in Nested Knowledge, b.well Connected Health, and BEK Health, signaling a broader institutional push toward AI-enabled technologies that can improve the rigor and efficiency of evidence generation. The collaboration is designed to help researchers move more quickly from protocol development to real-world data evaluation, reducing the burden on epidemiology, informatics, and clinical teams while improving consistency across studies.
The announcement positions RTI and Navidence as addressing a structural weakness in research infrastructure rather than a narrow workflow problem — one that affects regulators, clinicians, and life sciences companies alike wherever study findings are used to inform treatment decisions or regulatory submissions.
KEY QUOTES:
“One of the most persistent challenges in real-world evidence generation is the inconsistency and lack of standardization in how diseases, treatments and outcomes are defined. Navidence was built to solve exactly that.”
“RTI’s investment validates our approach and accelerates our ability to bring transparent CODefs to research teams across the life sciences, ultimately improving the quality and credibility of evidence for all stakeholders. Together, we’re building something the industry has needed for a long time and we’re just getting started.”
Aaron Kamauu, CEO, Navidence
“High-quality real-world evidence demands scientific rigor, scalable infrastructure and a clear understanding of our clients’ needs. Navidence tackles a long-standing challenge in life sciences research by bringing clarity and standardization to how health data are defined and operationalized.”
Asli Aras, Vice President and Head of Corporate Development, RTI International
