Sanofi signs latest billion-dollar AI drug discovery deal

Check out the on-demand sessions from the Low-Code/No-Code Summit to learn how to successfully innovate and achieve efficiency by upskilling and scaling citizen developers. In an era when biopharma research in drug R&D continues to be costly and slow, and artificial intelligence (AI)-based drug discovery platforms are rapidly growing, Paris-based pharmaceutical leader Sanofi announced its latest massive AI drug discovery deal, this time with startup Insilico Medicine, worth up to $1.2 billion. The research collaboration comes on the heels of several other high-value AI drug discovery partnership announcements from Sanofi, including with Atomwise in August; a partnership expansion with Exscientia last January; and an equity investment in Owkin a year ago. In June, Sanofi's global head of research platforms, Matt Truppo, said that the goal of these AI collaborations is to reduce drug development timelines by "a few years," which in turn brings down costs. According to an Insilico press release, pharmaceutical companies are moving in one of two directions: "Either they are cutting their AI software projects and firing departments, or, like Sanofi, they are doubling down on innovative technology – partnering with leading biotechs to develop new therapeutics using AI."