Sanofi, our newest Gold Sponsor, hosted their inaugural event at LabCentral on Wednesday, January 21st. It was an auspicious start to a promisingly productive and deep engagement, and provided a great opportunity for the extended community to learn more about Sanofi's vision, values, and how they hope to work with the LabCentral community.
The event kicked off with a warm welcome from LabCentral’s CEO, Maggie O’Toole, who emphasized the importance of partners aligning on values, and engaging with consistency and trust. She highlighted the team’s shared belief in early collaboration and relationship-building as the foundations for long-term impact.
The program then shifted to an overview of Sanofi’s four-pillar research and development vision as shared by Srinivas Rao (Srini), R&D US Country Lead. He cited Sanofi’s deep expertise across immunoscience, neuroscience, oncology and genomic medicine, emphasizing their desired commitment to collaborate in these areas as they intersect with AI. Those four pillars include:
- Strategic Therapeutic Area Development
- Leading with AI at scale
- Speed to patients
- Deep scientific identity
Karen Chandross, Ph.D., Sanofi’s Head of External Innovation for North America, R&D, then outlined the portfolio of collaborative mechanisms Sanofi offers, emphasizing the possible opportunities to work together, which include:
- Awards (iAwards, iDEA-Tech and iNext programs)
- The Open Innovation Lab
- Intrepide and Immunoscience Frontiers
- New programs and bridges to startups, including work with LabCentral and others.
The event then moved to a panel conversation, featuring Srini Rao, Karen Chandross, Christian Mueller, Ph.D. (Global Head, Genomic Medicine), and Sarah Tao, Ph.D., (Head of Search & Evaluation, Tech Platforms) in conversation with Kamran Tavangar, LabCentral’s Head of Science Strategy. They explored how Sanofi collaborates to tap into breakthrough innovation from early-stage startups with focus on pharma and vaccines and R&D, with the key word being ‘relationships.’ Mueller, a former LabCentral resident, reflected on his journey from academia and entrepreneurship to his current role with Sanofi along the way.
After the conclusion of the formal program, the audience and extended Sanofi team, which included Sanofi R&D External Innovation, Intrépide, Immunoscience Frontiers, Vaccines, and Business Development, enjoyed a vibrant networking session. These interactions have already sparked interest in deeper conversations aimed at bringing value to R&D!
Going forward, Sanofi will be launching a Golden Ticket program, and hosting office hours and other events with LabCentral resident startups as they ‘chase the miracles of science to improve people's lives.’
We are thrilled to have Sanofi as part of our innovation ecosystem, and we look forward to our collaboration supporting LabCentral’s mission.
