In early June, Sanofi Pharmaceuticals, whose ambition is to be a leader in digital health, announced the launch of Accelerator, an internal digital gas pedal that aims to develop products and solutions and transform the practice of medicine through digital, data and artificial intelligence. Based in Paris, it already has a team of more than 75 specialists from around the world and plans to recruit top talent specializing in product management, full stack development and data science.

The Sanofi group is established in about 100 countries where it employs nearly 100,000 people (more than 20,000 in France) and has nearly 70 production sites and about 20 R&D sites. Its mission is to ” improve people’s lives” and to this end, it offers treatments focused on rare diseases, multiple sclerosis, atopic dermatitis, cancer, diabetes and autoimmune, infectious and cardiovascular diseases, but also vaccines.

The group has implemented a global digital strategy that has already begun to bear fruit. It has trained more than 16,000 of its employees and recruited more than 300 talents over the past 18 months in France, Spain, the United States and Canada to strengthen its digital, data and cybersecurity teams.

Sanofi wants to prioritize AI, which has, among other things, helped accelerate the discovery of new targets or the analysis of R&D images.

Arnaud Robert, Executive Vice President, Head of Digital Strategy, states:

“Digital, data and technology are helping us strengthen our ambition to transform the practice of medicine and improve patients’ lives. The first phase of our transformation has laid the foundation for optimal performance and created value across the company. This will enable us to accelerate growth and drive innovation to achieve new breakthroughs for the benefit of our patients, partners and employees. “

Sanofi’s digital gas pedal

Unlike Future4Care, which Sanofi launched with Capgemini, Generali and Orange, “Accelerator “ is not a start-up incubator. Teams of around ten people from both internal mobility and external recruitment will work in the WeWork co-working space in Paris, supported by the ” Accelerator Academy”, which is dedicated to raising the skills of employees.

A partnership with the international non-profit organization Women In Tech has been established to address the deficit of women in the digital sector. Today, there is near parity in the teams with 45% women and 55% men of 16 different nationalities. In addition, a program will soon be set up with a leading school to train Sanofi employees wishing to join the project in 4 months.

This gas pedal, which will have 300 employees within two years, has chosen to initially address the unmet needs of patients suffering from atopic dermatitis in France, Italy and Spain and will work on Dupixent, a drug for severe atopic dermatitis in children. Six products based on data and AI are currently in progress, at different maturities.

Emmanuel Frenehard, Global Head of Digital Products, Sanofi, states:

“The goal is to help recognize the disease but we are also looking for new ways to engage pediatricians and enhance their professions. “

Arnaud Robert concludes:

“Sanofi’s digital transformation is as much about cultural and business transformation as it is about technology. The Digital Accelerator will help us democratize the use of data, develop agility at all levels of the organization and accelerate innovation for patients and healthcare professionals – quickly and at scale. This investment in the Digital Accelerator further illustrates our commitment to transforming the practice of medicine and bringing better solutions to patients. “

Translated from Sanofi poursuit sa stratégie digitale et lance un accélérateur interne