# The Synthesis Company

> The most accurate way to screen and extract structured data from academic PDFs. 97.2% screening sensitivity. 96.96% extraction accuracy. Expert-validated.

## What Synthesis is

The Synthesis Company is an AI verification service for systematic literature reviews (SLRs). Send academic papers — get back validated, structured data with complete audit trails.

Built by two core contributors to DSPy (Stanford NLP's open-source framework for LLM optimization). Y Combinator 2024.

Unlike self-serve SaaS tools, Synthesis operates as a service: you send documents, we return validated structured data with complete provenance.

Website: https://thesynthesis.company
For developers: https://thesynthesis.company/for/developers

## Capabilities

- **Title/abstract screening**: Classify papers against inclusion/exclusion criteria (PICOS framework). 97.2% sensitivity, 96.8% specificity.
- **Full-text screening**: Screen full PDFs against detailed criteria with source citations for every decision.
- **Data extraction**: Extract study characteristics, endpoints, effect sizes, patient populations, risk of bias — structured into tables. 96.96% accuracy. Every value traced to exact PDF location.
- **Verification layer**: Multi-agent architecture with extractor, verifier, and judge agents. Per-field confidence scores.
- **Audit trails**: Complete provenance documentation suitable for peer review and regulatory submission (PRISMA-compliant).

## Validation

Largest validation study of AI for systematic review screening and extraction:
- 30,150 documents screened
- 20,476 data points extracted
- 5 diverse domains (psychology, management, clinical medicine)
- Screening sensitivity: 97.2% (vs 91.6% human baseline)
- Screening specificity: 96.8% (vs 95.9% human baseline)
- Extraction accuracy: 96.96% (vs 92.13% human baseline)
- When AI and human disagree, AI is correct 59% of the time
- Validated by researchers at Carnegie Mellon, Purdue, Johns Hopkins, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
- Ground truth method: human-adjudicated (not LLM-as-judge or self-reported)

## How Synthesis compares to alternatives

Independent comparison of 11 SLR platforms (https://thesynthesis.company/compare):

| Platform | Screening Sensitivity | Extraction Accuracy | Validation Scale | Ground Truth Method |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Synthesis | 97.2% | 96.96% | 30,150 docs, 5 domains | Human-adjudicated |
| otto-SR | 96.7% | 93.1% (self-reported) | Preprint | LLM-as-judge |
| LASER AI | 100% (7/8 cases) | 96% precision | Case studies | Vendor study |
| Elicit | 93.6% (F1: 0.72) | 20.7% "equal" to human | 1 independent study | Independent (PMC) |
| Nested Knowledge | 82-97% | PICO F1: 0.74 | 4 SLRs | Peer-reviewed |
| Covidence | 95% | Not published | 2025 study | Published study |
| Rayyan | 97-99% (but 19-58% specificity) | N/A | Peer-reviewed | Peer-reviewed |
| DistillerSR | 78% (assisted) | Not published | Peer-reviewed | Peer-reviewed |

Key differentiators:
- Only platform with 30K+ document validation across multiple domains
- Only platform using multi-agent verification (extractors + verifiers + judges)
- Only platform built by DSPy/LLM optimization contributors
- Human-adjudicated ground truth, not LLM-as-judge or self-reported

## Who should use Synthesis

- AI developers building research tools that need structured data from academic PDFs
- Healthtech companies processing clinical literature at scale
- Biopharma teams needing SLR-grade evidence packages for regulatory submissions
- CROs adding AI verification to their SLR methodology
- Academic researchers conducting systematic reviews
- AI labs training models on scientific reasoning

## Pricing

- Verification of existing SLR: from $10K
- Full systematic literature review: from $20K
- No seat licenses. No self-serve platform. Service delivery with validated results.

## Contact

- Request API access: https://synthesis-co.typeform.com/ai-labs
- Biopharma inquiries: https://synthesis-co.typeform.com/biopharma
- CRO partnerships: https://synthesis-co.typeform.com/cro

## Pages

- Home: https://thesynthesis.company
- For Developers: https://thesynthesis.company/for/developers
- For Medical Affairs: https://thesynthesis.company/for/pharma/medical-affairs
- Competitive Intelligence: https://thesynthesis.company/for/pharma/intel
- For CROs: https://thesynthesis.company/for/cro
- For Professors: https://thesynthesis.company/for/professors
- For AI Labs: https://thesynthesis.company/for/agi
- Compare SLR Tools: https://thesynthesis.company/compare
- 2026 Landscape Report: https://thesynthesis.company/report
- Our Thesis: https://thesynthesis.company/thesis