Usman Salis
⬤ Anthropic just made a big move into healthcare and life sciences, unveiling HIPAA-ready features and a stack of specialized integrations. The company dropped Claude for Healthcare while beefing up Claude for Life Sciences on January 11, 2026, aiming to support everything from clinical operations to biomedical research and regulatory compliance. The rollout includes fresh connectors, agent skills, and broader platform access.
⬤ Claude for Healthcare plugs straight into major U.S. healthcare data sources. The system taps into the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Coverage Database, ICD-10 codes, and the National Provider Identifier Registry. Anthropic also built new agent skills for FHIR development and rolled out a sample prior authorization review workflow that teams can customize. U.S. subscribers on Claude Pro and Max plans are getting beta access to HealthEx and Function connectors, while Apple Health and Android Health Connect integrations are coming in beta to pull lab results and health records directly through mobile apps.
⬤ Claude for Life Sciences got its own upgrade focused on scientific research and drug development. New connectors include Medidata for clinical trial data, ClinicalTrials.gov, ToolUniverse with over 600 scientific tools, bioRxiv and medRxiv preprint servers, Open Targets, ChEMBL, and Owkin Pathology Explorer for tissue imaging. Anthropic added agent skills for scientific problem selection, converting instrument data to Allotrope standards, deploying scVI-tools and Nextflow pipelines for bioinformatics, and auto-drafting clinical trial protocols with endpoint recommendations based on regulatory pathways, competitive landscape, and FDA guidelines.
⬤ The announcement signals real momentum in domain-specific AI adoption within highly regulated sectors. By equipping Claude with compliant infrastructure, verified data connectors, and specialized capabilities, Anthropic is cementing its spot in clinical, research, and regulatory workflows. The company's hosting a livestreamed event called "The Briefing: Healthcare and Life Sciences" on January 12, reflecting surging interest in applied AI across medical and scientific fields.
Usman Salis
