Our Mission
Leverage the fast-changing innovative ecosystem in China to build stronger partnership with academia, industry, and associations to accelerate the development of innovative medicines for tomorrow.
Our Goals
Explore
Develop
Develop and strengthen our network with academic partners, industrial peers and biotech’s, and associations to enhance Sanofi’s image and nurture local talents.
Leverage
Leverage the positive ecosystem trend through strategic partnerships and Sanofi’s outstanding R&D capability to enrich our R&D pipelines.
Our Initiatives
We are committed to building meaningful relationships and successful partnerships with key innovators through 2 types of initiatives: the Innovation Awards and the establishment of Strategic Partnerships to accelerate efforts in R&D.
Innovation Awards
We lead two seed-funding initiatives to explore new ways of thinking, to maximize exposure to the latest ground-breaking science and technology and to identify new collaboration opportunities. Selected projects benefit from a seed funding and the scientific support of a dedicated Sanofi researcher to mature ideas for 1 year and build on future long-term collaborations.
Strategic Partnerships
We work together with the China ecosystem to build strategic partnerships and accelerate innovation in R&D.
Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS)
Sanofi’s long-term partnerships with top-ranking institutions within CAS began in 2008, to promote innovation and accelerate the translation of research results into medical solutions.
The joint Sanofi-CAS scholarship program awards Outstanding Young Scientists. Two awardees were elected as prestigious members of CAS in 2021, while many others play leading roles at top-notch research and discovery programs.
Sanofi and the Center for Excellence in Molecular Cell Science also set up an Outstanding Paper Award to promote “Cell Research,” a renowned international journal in basic research and discovery.
Future Forum & Science Prize Week
Since 2015, Future Forum has been actively promoting industry-academia partnerships and improving public understanding of science and technology. Sanofi is partnering on the annual Future Forum & Future Science Prize Week, Symposium and Ceremony since 2018.
During these events, scientists from across the world share cutting-edge scientific developments, and explore inter-disciplinary and innovative academic insights. Future Forum is the only high-end, multi-disciplinary international scientific conference held in China to recognize scientific breakthrough and innovation in the greater China region.
Guangzhou Institute of Respiratory Health (GIRH)
As the global burden of respiratory diseases continues to rise, translational medicine has become a crucial bridge between basic research and clinical application. In response to this major challenge, Sanofi and the GIRH officially signed a strategic cooperation agreement in Shanghai on May 22, 2025, focusing on inflammation subtyping and precision medicine research in bronchiectasis.
This strategic cooperation will fully integrate Sanofi’s global innovation strengths in drug development and immunomodulatory therapies with the Guangzhou Institute’s deep expertise and platform resources in respiratory disease research.
We Are Looking for Academic and Industry Partners in the Following Areas
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External Innovation Team, China
Xie Yao
Ecosystem & Scientific Innovation Lead