Doctors make treatment decisions every day. But sometimes, the most promising option isn’t part of the standard treatment, it is part of a clinical trial. In Belgium alone, over 1,400 clinical trials run each year. Yet with doctors seeing 30 or more patients a day, keeping up with them is nearly impossible. It is simply not feasible to track thousands of studies, interpret complex eligibility criteria, and match them to the right patients on top of a full clinical workload. As a result, promising treatments remain out of reach for patients, and pharmaceutical companies struggle to find enough participants for their trials.
Monsana tackles this challenge head-on with AI that automatically connects eligible patients to the right trials. The platform integrates into hospital systems and reviews selected patient records. When a patient fits the criteria for a study, the doctor gets notified, without having to search or screen manually. This way, patients don’t miss out on cutting-edge treatments, and doctors can focus on care.
Founding Monsana out of passion
Monsana grew out of something deeply personal. Co-founder Valerie Vandeweerd, a medical doctor with experience in the pharmaceutical industry, found herself searching for clinical trials when a family member was diagnosed with an aggressive cancer, and quickly discovered just how hard that process is. Even with her background, the system felt chaotic and inaccessible.
This led her to join forces with Simeon Devos, a data scientist and tech entrepreneur. Together, they made it their mission to fix the broken link between patients and clinical trials. Monsana was born, combining their experience in healthcare and AI.
Medicine speaks in free-text, Monsana AI listens
Clinical trial eligibility criteria are complex, and both trial data and patient records are often buried in unstructured text, scattered across formats, systems, and languages, with no easy way to connect the dots. Medical language is nuanced, and a patient’s full clinical story can’t be captured through checkboxes or drop-down menus. Critical details often live in free-text notes.
That’s where Monsana’s technology makes a difference. Using advanced generative AI, it reads and understands medical files and trial criteria in their unstructured form, identifying highly accurate matches that would not be possible with traditional technology.
Monsana is more than just an algorithm, it’s a true AI assistant designed to support healthcare professionals. It automates the patient screening process, highlights relevant clinical trial options, and integrates effortlessly into existing workflows. This way, doctors receive the right information at the right time, without added effort. Monsana.AI identifies 2.5 times more eligible patients compared to manual screening while the workload is reduced by 85%.
Speeding up research, saving lives
For pharmaceutical companies, Monsana means faster and more efficient patient recruitment. Clinical trials are not just scientific endeavors, they’re races against time. Each day of delay can cost sponsors up to millions of dollars as patents expire. Even more importantly, delays keep patients waiting longer for potentially life-saving treatments.
Belgium plays a leading role in Europe’s pharmaceutical sector, ranking among the top countries for clinical trials per capita and supporting over 42,000 high-value jobs, with more than €5.7 billion invested in R&D. This thriving life sciences industry is crucial not only to Belgium’s economy but also to Europe’s standing in medical research. However, international competition is intensifying.
While the US and China continue to grow their clinical trial markets, Europe’s share is shrinking. At Pharma.be’s Clinical Trial Forum in January 2025, it was emphasized that Europe must invest in innovation and efficiency, especially inpatient recruitment, to maintain its competitive edge.
From Belgium to Europe
Monsana is continuing to build partnerships with hospitals and pharma companies to bring this technology to more patients. “We want to make sure every patient, wherever they are, gets a fair chance to access life-changing treatments,” says Valerie. With plans to expand beyond Belgium into neighboring countries, Monsana aims to become the leading platform for AI-driven clinical trial recruitment in Europe.
Valerie puts it simply: “No matter who you are, where you come from, or what hospital you go to, everyone deserves access to the care they need. That’s what we want to contribute to every day.”
