II: Sanofi and AI Drug Discovery Innovation
Revolutionizing Drug Development
For the first part of this newsletter:
Sanofi News 2024
🧚♂️ How embracing creativity transformed ‘boring’ health company Sanofi
“There is a little bit of weight that we carry with us that hasn’t allowed us to unlock the potential of our brands to the degree that other industries have been able to do, even if they’re regulated. We did it to ourselves.” Alberto Hernandez, chief growth officer at Sanofi Consumer Healthcare
🔮 Sanofi begins 'full pipeline reprioritization' with layoffs in tow, R&D chief tells staff
Sanofi's ambition is to build an immunoscience powerhouse.
This reprioritization cannot be achieved without an impact to their workforce.
🎡 Sanofi at VivaTech
Meet Sanofi’s expert teams from May 22 – 25 on Booth J24 to learn more about their journey to becoming the first pharma company powered by AI at scale.
🎠 Sanofi expands rare disease pipeline with $2.2bn Inhibrx acquisition
Alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency (AATD) is an inherited rare disease characterized by low levels of Alpha-1 antitrypsin (AAT) protein, which protects the lungs and liver from inflammation.
Inhibrx’s INBRX-101 is a human recombinant protein that works by inhibiting neutrophil elastase, an enzyme responsible for lung tissue damage in AATD patients.
Sanofi and Artificial Intelligence 👸
Sanofi S.A. (SAN) is a French multinational pharmaceutical and healthcare company headquartered in Paris, France. The corporation was established in 1973 and merged with Synthélabo in 1999 to form Sanofi-Synthélabo. In 2004, Sanofi-Synthélabo merged with Aventis and was renamed to Sanofi-Aventis, which were each the product of several previous mergers. It changed its name back to Sanofi in May 2011. Sanofi was the first worldwide supplier of the injectable polio vaccine followed by the first influenza, meningitis and rabies vaccines. Paul Hudson (born 14 October 1967) is a British businessman and the CEO of Sanofi, the world's fifth largest pharmaceutical company by prescription drug sales.
🎾 In 2023, Sanofi declared its ambition to incorporate AI and data science across all its operations (Sanofi Goes “All In” to Lead the AI Revolution in Pharmaceutical Industry) through its innovative AI app plai. The app was developed in collaboration with the AI platform company Aily Labs, and delivers real-time reactive data interactions allowing an unprecedented 360° view across all Sanofi's activities: from research to clinical operations to manufacturing and supply to business analysis. By aggregating available company internal data across all functions and by utilizing AI the app provides timely insights and personalized “what if” scenarios to support thousands of Sanofi teams decision makers to take informed decisions in a simple and modern digital user experience.
“In the end, it’s about using artificial intelligence to create this real momentum of decision-making”.
✒️ By Paul Hudson CEO of Sanofi
🎾 In 2019, Sanofi teamed up with Google to use the tech giant's AI and cloud-computing tools in a new Innovation Lab, per Bio Space, to speed up drug discovery and maximize operational flows and improve the patient experience (Sanofi is leaning on Google's AI and cloud-computing tools for drug advances).
🎾 In 2021, The Abdul Latif Jameel Clinic for Machine Learning in Health (Jameel Clinic) at MIT announced the first step in a long-term strategic collaboration with Sanofi, on the development and application of AI and ML capabilities for drug discovery and development (Jameel Clinic teams up with Sanofi on AI and machine learning). The Jameel Clinic and Sanofi plan to work on multiple projects focused across biologics and small molecule drug design, precision medicine (immunology and inflammation) and oncology treatment.