Sanofi is rolling out its artificial intelligence app, Plai, as it doubles down on its efforts to incorporate AI throughout its research and development activities.
The app, developed in partnership with Aily Labs, can provide real-time data as well as an “unprecedented 360-degree view across all Sanofi activities,” the company said in a statement Tuesday morning.
Plai pairs internal data with insights and “personalized ‘what if’ scenarios” that are meant to support Sanofi staff.
Launching Plai is just one aspect of Sanofi’s greater goal of harnessing AI for drug development and research.
“Our ambition is to become the first pharma company powered by artificial intelligence at scale, giving our people tools and technologies that focus on insights and allow them to make better everyday decisions,” Sanofi CEO Paul Hudson said in a statement.
Hudson added that AI already offers support for Sanofi’s drug discovery capabilities, clinical trial design as well as manufacturing and supply of medicines and vaccines. He predicted that the industry has “just scratched the surface” by leveraging these technologies to improve the practice of medicine.
AI has given Sanofi the ability to speed up its research process “from a matter of weeks to just hours,” the company said. This innovative technology also boosts the pharma’s ability in target identification throughout different therapeutic areas, including immunology, oncology and neurology.
Sanofi pinpointed AI’s potential in mRNA research – particularly in creating digital models that can predict the best selection of lipid nanoparticles, which deliver the mRNA to cells. AI speeds up that prediction process from a matter of months to days.
The French drugmaker has been active in the AI space, striking a deal with Insilico Medicine worth up to $1.2 billion last November. Sanofi gained its AI platform Pharma.AI in the process. That partnership followed Sanofi’s other AI collaborations, including deals with Exscientia and Owkin.
Alex Zhavoronkov, CEO and founder at Insilico Medicine, noted in a statement at the time that Insilico was eager to work with Sanofi on AI-powered drug discovery.
“This close collaboration will allow Sanofi to immediately gain the capabilities of one of the top AI startups in addition to enriching their drug discovery pipeline,” Zhavoronkov added.
Sanofi is also planning on using Plai in its clinical trial operations, such as improving how its R&D teams set up trial sites for target groups, with the aim of improving its enrollment of underrepresented populations.
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