The global healthcare industry struggles with slow drug discovery, regulatory delays, and persistent challenges in patient access, particularly in regions like Southeast Asia and India. To cut through this complexity and accelerate the delivery of life-saving innovation, Sanofi is embarking on a fundamental transformation to become an AI co-op biopharma company. According to Eric Mansion, GM & MCO Lead, Pharma, SEA & India, Sanofi, this integration spans the entire value chain, from drug discovery to patient support.
Internal Transformation Powered by AI
The integration of AI begins internally, restructuring core functions and speeding up the innovation lifecycle. Sanofi is leveraging both practical and highly specialised AI tools. For instance, they use what is termed “snackable AI” to enhance day-to-day ways of working for Sanofians. More fundamentally, AI is accelerating medical innovation. Sanofi uses “expert AI” in R&D to help identify prospects for new breakthrough medicines. Mansion notes that this implementation is designed to "improve and fast-track the innovation brought to patients". Perhaps one of the most immediate changes is seen in commercial operations, where generative AI is transforming roles. “Generative AI is transforming the entire value chain... the job of our marketers and the job of our salespeople has been transformed with generative AI. For example, we used to be extremely dependent on external providers to generate content. Now, we are reliant on AI, building up the capabilities and expertise internally to be empowered by it. That’s one of the key points that are driving us” Mansion explains the shift in content creation.
The Challenge of Access
In regions like Southeast Asia and India, Sanofi is focused on addressing structural issues that slow down patient access to innovation. Mansion identifies the regulatory pathway as a significant hurdle. He says AI is being deployed directly to cut down bureaucratic lag time “We are trying to fast-track our ability to submit the dossier by using AI because it used to take months to build a regulatory dossier. Now, we can do it in weeks. There is still human intervention, but the preparatory work is amplified by AI”. This acceleration of regulatory submissions is critical to speeding up access to new treatments. Beyond regulatory barriers, Sanofi is also utilising AI and digital tools to address critical needs downstream in the patient care pathway. A major focus is on improving diagnostics, particularly for rare diseases. Mansion highlights the severe time lag faced by these patients “One of the key issues for rare disease patients is that usually, between the appearance of the first symptom and the start of an effective treatment, it takes up to five, six, or seven years. By reducing the lead time with an AI algorithm, using AI as a diagnostic tool, or at least to reduce the number of patients that are tested, we are easing early intervention.”
Addressing the “Last Mile”
Another complex access challenge Sanofi is addressing through technology is navigating the "last mile" of care. This involves the logistical and geographical challenges patients face after diagnosis. “We realise the last mile is difficult: having access to the right specialist, having access to the right diagnostic center, and managing their family obligations when they have to undergo treatments.” To tackle this, the company is developing digital support tools. They use healthcare mapping to identify key moments in the patient journey and provide digital support, such as apps, that offer tips, useful information, and healthcare practitioners’ addresses. The fundamental idea, Mansion notes, is to integrate AI at all levels, "in the way we operate, upstream, but also downstream, and integrating that in the care pathway of the patients".
Partnerships and Patient-Centricity
Sanofi recognises that tackling systemic healthcare challenges requires broad collaboration, fostering system-wide partnerships with both private and public entities, including governments and NGOs.
While acknowledging that healthcare may not historically have been "at the forefront of digital innovation," Mansion believes the system is now leapfrogging through these transformations. Central to this collaborative effort is a shift in how the patient is viewed within the ecosystem, “What we are trying to do is move from the patient being a subject to the patient being the partner of all the stakeholders to amplify our impact on the healthcare platform” Mansion said.
