Sanofi to launch €66m R&D hub in China

France-based Sanofi has announced plans to launch a research and development (R&D) hub in China to focus on digitalisation and big data analysis.

Based in Chengdu, Sichuan province, the operations hub joins similar Sanofi facilities in France and the US.

Sanofi has invested €66 million ($77 million) into the hub to support the clinical R&D of Sanofi’s drugs by focusing on the management of global clinical trials data and files.

The hub, which is expected to accelerate the availability of trial results, will recruit 300 local pharmaceutical R&D professionals by 2020.

“Through this new hub, we will take full advantage of our global experience and R&D capabilities together with local scientific research strengths to further improve innovation,” said Zhang Ji, senior vice president, global head of Sanofi R&D operations.

Sanofi added that the hub will target diseases across its therapeutic areas: diabetes and cardiovascular diseases, vaccines, oncology, immunology and inflammation, rare diseases, multiple sclerosis and neurology.

It is also expected to leverage biological technology for polypeptides, gene therapy, monoclonal antibodies and multi-specific antibodies.

Ji added: “Our goal is to link China’s innovative achievements with the global ecosystem and develop innovative drugs in China that could benefit patients around the world.”

Earlier this week, LSIPR reported that Novartis has created a platform called Nerve Live that will tap into its “huge data pool” in order to aid drug development.

The tool uses the latest advances in computing technology and will be used in a number of areas, including clinical trials.

Did you enjoy reading this story?  Sign up to our free daily newsletters and get stories sent like this straight to your inbox.