Paul Hudson, the former CEO of Sanofi, abruptly left his position in February, with innovation as his core focus. When he took over the French pharmaceutical giant in 2019, the Briton initiated a vast transformation to refocus the company’s portfolio towards innovative drugs, aspiring to become a leader in immunology. However, this strategy failed to convince the markets, leading to his departure. While waiting for his replacement, Belén Garijo, currently the CEO of German lab Merck KGaA, to take over on April 26, Sanofi continues its momentum.
The French group, which reported a revenue of €43.62 billion in 2025 (up by 9.9% from the previous year), announced on March 31 a partnership with the startup hub Station F, aiming to be at the forefront of capturing innovation at its source.
“This partnership will fully integrate cutting-edge technologies such as artificial intelligence, digital modeling, and data analysis into our R&D activities,” explained Challenges Houman Ashrafian, Sanofi’s Executive Vice President in charge of Research and Development.
Starting from mid-May, a selected group of startups will collaborate with Sanofi’s digital and scientific teams on targeted projects for six months. These startups will be able to test their technologies in real conditions, leveraging Sanofi’s scientific expertise and proprietary data.
These projects, focusing on validating and accelerating the deployment of the most promising technological solutions, align with the group’s strategic priorities, particularly in immunology and treatment discovery. The aim is to combine forces with the incredibly talented and agile startup ecosystem to expedite the development of new drugs and vaccines.
The stakes are high as therapeutic innovations mainly emerge from the USA and increasingly from China. The Research and Development lead at Sanofi emphasizes the desire to put Europe, and France, back at the forefront of pharmaceutical innovation and retain startups to potentially become unicorns.
A mutually beneficial partnership with Sanofi is expected to attract numerous candidates at Station F, a leading global innovation hub. By partnering with OpenAI and Mistral AI, Station F and Sanofi are making significant strides in the global healthcare sector.
Roxanne Varza, the director of Station F, highlighted the importance of collaborating with Sanofi for healthcare innovation and hopes to attract up to twenty startups annually to participate in this program.
The collaborations will initially focus on three priority areas outlined by Sanofi: AI-assisted treatment discovery, next-generation health data analysis, and digital modeling of biological systems. Long-term ambitions include developing a digital model of the human immune system for a deep transformation in disease understanding and treatment.
Sanofi is keen on leading the way in merging life sciences with advanced technologies to drive the next wave of therapeutic innovations. The company previously collaborated in launching the e-health accelerator Future4Care in 2021, demonstrating its commitment to staying ahead in the innovation race.
