AI Innovation Advances Steadily as Sanofi Continues to Lead — Highlights from the Special Roundtable at CIIE 2024

At the 7th China International Import Expo (hereinafter referred to as the “CIIE”), Sanofi, a participant for seven consecutive years, centered its presence on the theme “Pursuing Miracles in Immunology Science, Jointly Building the China-France Health Track.” The company comprehensively showcased its global R&D pipeline anchored in immunology science, breakthrough innovative drugs and vaccines actively introduced to the Chinese market, as well as practical achievements reflecting its long-term commitment rooted in over 40 years of presence in China and AI-led digital healthcare innovations, thereby promoting innovation and exchange between the pharmaceutical and health industries of China and France.

On November 8, Sanofi hosted a special roundtable discussion at its booth themed “Exploring the Applications and Sustainability Impact of AI in the Healthcare Industry,” with participants engaging in discussions and sharing insights both online and offline.

Click the video to watch the highlights from the roundtable discussion!

Wende Lai, Chief Digital Officer of Sanofi China, stated that Sanofi is committed to the application of artificial intelligence (AI) and aims to become the first biopharmaceutical company to deploy AI at scale. To this end, Sanofi is actively investing in multiple key strategic areas, with a particular focus on leveraging AI technologies to significantly enhance the efficiency and precision of team decision-making, thereby unlocking greater potential within its workforce.

Lai Wende pointed out that artificial intelligence holds broad prospects for the healthcare industry.

With the rapid advancement of technology and the increasingly diverse needs of patients, the healthcare industry stands at a crossroads of transformation and upgrading. The integration of artificial intelligence (AI) technology has brought innovative solutions to the industry, driving enterprises toward intelligent, efficient, and personalized development to adapt to market changes and enhance competitiveness. For Sanofi, which is committed to becoming the first biopharmaceutical company to apply AI on a large scale, keeping pace with this tidal wave of the era is undoubtedly a key component of its strategic blueprint.

At the event, Ding Hongbin, Head of Digital for Sanofi Greater China, elaborated on the extensive applications and enabling role of artificial intelligence (AI) in the pharmaceutical sector. This aligns with Sanofi’s “All-in” AI strategic decision announced in June 2023, underscoring the company’s commitment to becoming the first pharmaceutical company driven by AI at scale.

In its application of AI technologies, Sanofi has adopted various types of AI to enhance work efficiency and drive innovation.“Brain-Style AI (Snackable AI)”Empowers Sanofi’s decision-makers to leverage cross-functional data available within the company to make informed decisions in digital user experiences. For instance, Plai, an AI application co-developed by Sanofi and its partners, integrates internal data to provide real-time, responsive data interactions, driving intelligent decision-making and digital transformation across the company.

From target identification to drug development, clinical trial optimization, and manufacturing and supply,“Expert AI”Leveraging powerful computing capabilities, machine learning, and sophisticated algorithms to solve complex problems has enhanced productivity across the entire value chain, enabling Sanofi to drive R&D innovation for a broader range of diseases.

“Generative AI”Reduces the time and effort R&D personnel spend on writing clinical study reports, helps improve work efficiency, shortens the time required for the entire R&D process, and enables drugs to benefit patients more quickly.

The long development cycles, high costs, and low success rates of new drug development constitute a major challenge facing the industry. Every stage, from drug discovery and clinical trials to industrial pharmaceutical manufacturing, is fraught with challenges and uncertainties that may affect the positive outcomes of clinical trials.

In this regard,Sanofi Is Exploring Drug R&D Through AI Technology. Li Changling, Head of Digitalization at Sanofi’s China R&D Center, mentioned that Sanofi has developed an AI-driven target identification and discovery engine that leverages machine learning to process big data, enabling the rapid exploration and analysis of new targets. Meanwhile, the company employs AI to optimize clinical trial design, enhance patient recruitment efficiency, and monitor potential risks in real time during clinical trials, providing robust support for the timely implementation of effective preventive measures.

Pharmaceutical manufacturing is a complex process involving multiple stages, including production, quality control, and supply chain management. Sanofi is leveraging artificial intelligence technology to implement refined management across the entire workflow, ensuring product quality and safety while reducing costs and improving efficiency. This initiative is part of the company’s AI upgrade strategy.

Mei Rong, Head of Digitalization for China Manufacturing and Supply at Sanofi, stated that by leveraging AI to analyze historical data and trends, Sanofi can more accurately forecast future market demand. This approach helps prevent drug shortages or inventory overstocking, thereby enhancing the resilience of the entire supply chain. As a pharmaceutical company, Sanofi strictly adheres to the principle of quality first, conducting annual reviews of all elements within its quality management system. The application of generative AI has enabled us to rapidly generate product quality reports, reducing the time required to produce Product Quality Review (PQR) reports from approximately 20 days to just 1–3 days.

Furthermore, Mei Rong pointed out that Sanofi also extensively applies AI in industrial manufacturing, using it to monitor equipment in real time, analyze production data, and optimize manufacturing workflows, thereby ensuring consistent product quality.

On-site,Sanofi also shared SIMPLY, an expert-level AI product focused on improving manufacturing processes.According to Xu Jiayan, Head of Digital Operations and Maintenance for Sanofi’s China Manufacturing and Supply division, SIMPLY integrates machine learning technologies and data analytics to deliver near real-time decision support spanning from procurement to packaging. Currently, SIMPLY has helped Sanofi achieve its goals of increasing production output and reducing costs across four factories and various product lines. Looking ahead, Sanofi plans to expand the deployment of SIMPLY to additional factories and product lines, further strengthening its manufacturing capabilities.

Sanofi's AI applications also signify a strengthened integration of local Chinese operations with its global strategy.In 2023, Sanofi partnered with BioMap to advance the research and development of biotherapeutic drugs, promote the construction of a new digital ecosystem in China, improve the accessibility of health solutions in the country, and benefit more people.

Li Changling also stated that Sanofi will keep pace with global development while feeding China’s leading achievements back to the world, working hand in hand to lead the industry into a new era of greater efficiency and intelligence.

Since the establishment of Schrödinger, the first AI-driven drug discovery company, in 1990, the global AI pharmaceutical industry has undergone more than 30 years of development and entered its golden age. In 2024, the Nobel Prizes in Chemistry and Physics were awarded to AI-related achievements, heralding the arrival of a new era.

However, every technology has its dual nature, and AI is no exception. How to balance the relationship between AI technology and various aspects such as society, ethics, law, and economy has become an issue that all enterprises using AI on a large scale must face. Ding Hongbin provided Sanofi's answer: ——While proposing its “All in AI” strategy, Sanofi also adheres to the principle of “exploring AI responsibly” and has established a comprehensive AI governance framework.. For example, prior to AI training, Sanofi will screen and evaluate the data, while monitoring model performance and data distribution to ensure the robustness and safety of the AI and prevent outputs from deviating below established safety thresholds.

Leveraging the instrumental utility of AI while recognizing its disruptive power is undoubtedly the key to seizing the initiative in future development. Although the unique nature of the healthcare industry may limit the widespread application and rapid iteration of AI technologies, this sector still holds immense potential to drive corporate transformation and innovation.

Lai Wende concluded that while AI innovative applications currently face challenges, their future holds even greater potential. “Sanofi has made significant progress in digital transformation and the innovative application of AI, and we continue to move forward. Currently, Sanofi China is completing the construction of its large-scale data infrastructure, which will significantly enhance the company’s operational efficiency.”I am confident about the future of AI technology, and I believe that the integration of humans and artificial intelligence will bring unprecedented advantages.”