Sanofi Launches Inaugural Digital Innovation Summit to Accelerate Global Digital Health Transformation

Sanofi’s global digital transformation strategy encompasses all aspects of the pharmaceutical value chain, including clinical research, manufacturing, Multi-Channel Engagement, Real World Evidence, digital solutions, and Integrated Care. By 2025, Sanofi aims to realize its vision of becoming a global, innovative, diverse, and digitally enabled healthcare company.

As a top-tier pharmaceutical company, Sanofi entered the Chinese market 37 years ago, and its Chinese employees now account for nearly one-tenth of its global workforce. To realize its vision of becoming a globally innovative, diversified, and digital healthcare company, Sanofi established the “i-Create Alliance” in April 2018. This initiative marks its first digital innovation platform and accelerator in emerging markets, followed by the establishment of Asia’s first digital acceleration center in 2019. As of October 2019, seven startups had participated in the two batches of the “Speed-Up Program” incubated by the “i-Create Alliance,” progressively empowering digital transformation and supporting rapid business growth.

The Sanofi Digital Innovation Summit, held on November 8, was initiated by Dr. Henry He, CEO of Sanofi China, and hosted by the Sanofi Extreme Innovation Alliance. The event aimed to showcase Sanofi’s latest achievements and developments in digital healthcare technology innovation, foster the exchange of new insights, and unleash the power of digital medical innovations to change the world.

As the inaugural Sanofi Innovation Summit, the event brought together over 30 tech giants including Tencent, more than 100 investors such as those from ZhenFund, over 100 startups, Sanofi business leaders and executives, as well as ecosystem partners and innovation stakeholders. Together, they presented roundtable discussions on digital health and keynote speeches to explore cutting-edge trends in digital innovation both domestically and internationally.

The summit features three key themes: Connected Devices and Patient Follow-up Care, Artificial Intelligence and Central Nervous System Disorders, and Natural Language Processing and Knowledge Graphs. More than 20 industry experts served as keynote speakers to share their insights. See the figure above for details.

Sanofi believes that success in innovation is unattainable without close partnerships. Success can only be achieved through teamwork, and the JiChuang Alliance serves as such a platform. Sanofi’s global digital strategy rests on three pillars: real-world research, multichannel engagement, and integrated patient services. In these areas, Sanofi will strengthen collaboration with domestic partners to drive joint innovation and deliver higher-quality services to patients in China.