In a year marked by European Parliament elections and setting of the European Union’s priorities for the next five years, it’s time for the EU to make innovation in health and biopharmaceuticals a strategic priority for the region’s resilience and security.
Europe is currently facing a competitiveness crisis. EU productivity has declined 1.2% in the fourth quarter of 2023 compared to the previous year, while U.S. productivity rose 2.6%. As France’s President Emmanuel Macron and Germany’s Chancellor Olaf Scholz wrote recently in the Financial Times, “Europe is experiencing its Zeitenwende” (change of era) and must rise to the challenge.
Europe can build on biopharmaceuticals as one of its critical technology sectors, but the time for action is now. Twenty-five years ago, one in two medicines was invented or discovered in laboratories in Europe. Today, it’s one in six. The EU can assert its commitment to global competitiveness in health care by fostering a robust and innovative biopharmaceutical sector, supported by cutting-edge AI technologies.
The potential benefits of AI in health care are vast and far-reaching. AI can improve access to health care services, optimize resource allocation, and enhance the quality of patient care. By embracing AI, the EU can position itself as a global leader in health care, ensuring access to the latest medical advancements for generations to come.
Accelerating drug discovery
Artificial intelligence is enabling European biopharma companies and startups to accelerate the development of innovative treatments for patients. According to the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, it takes 10 to 15 years on average and $2.6 billion for a new drug to journey from discovery to approval and widespread patient access. Generative AI can accelerate timelines, especially for lengthy undertakings like defining clinical trial processes. AI is already enabling teams at Sanofi, which I lead, to scale and accelerate research from weeks to hours, improving target identification in immunology, oncology, and neurology by 20% to 30%. By using AI in early modeling with assets in our Phase 2 pipeline, we can move much more quickly at the first sign of clinical efficacy.
To be sure, Sanofi isn’t the only company putting AI to work. Novo Nordisk, for example, has established partnerships with Valo Health, Microsoft, and MIT to leverage its AI capabilities.
To match the strong efforts in the U.S. and China, European pharma and biotechs need to adopt AI technology, as it will give the EU an edge in accelerating certain stages of R&D, particularly the early discovery and preclinical phases.
Developing ethical AI systems aligned with EU values
Developing trustworthy and ethical AI systems for health care applications in line with the EU’s fundamental rights and democratic principles can improve health outcomes while maintaining public trust.
The EU AI Act, adopted by the EU Parliament in March 2024, aims to create a harmonized framework for safe and responsible AI development and deployment across the union. The risk-based approach adopted by this act, following strict moral, ethical, and environmental standards, has been embedded since the beginning into Sanofi’s development and use of AI through the company’s RAISE (Responsible AI at Sanofi for Everyone) initiative. It rests on five pillars: be accountable to outcomes; be fair and ethical; work in a robust and safe way; be transparent and explainable; and be eco-responsible.
AI’s impact across enterprises is still a question for many, but health care is one domain where its effect is clear. Trustworthy AI technologies are already being used by medical professionals in the EU to analyze patients’ complex health data more precisely and thoroughly to offer customized preventive treatment. So far, 25% of EU enterprises across sectors have adopted at least two AI technologies, with health care being one of the leading sectors, but that number needs to increase to establish the EU as a global leader in health care.
Embracing responsible data sharing
A coordinated effort to share data at the EU level in a protected health cloud would allow researchers to make breakthroughs and train algorithms on vastly larger data sets. Currently, General Data Protection Regulation laws in the EU do not prohibit companies from sharing personal data with each other, as long as certain conditions are met. The European Health Data Space (EHDS) also aims to facilitate secure cross-border sharing and access to health data for primary and secondary use cases like AI development. EU member states will each have their own projects and regulations, which will contribute to the implementation of the EHDS.
France, for example, has led the way in developing approaches that improve the access and use of health data while protecting patient confidentiality through the country’s digital health space. This is a safe, customized platform where users can control their health data and services. The Health Data Hub, a French public organization, also lets researchers use anonymized data safely, following the rules and respecting the rights of citizens. France also implemented a national artificial intelligence strategy in 2017, especially for health care, which is often revised to encourage new uses and make existing ones easier.
It is imperative that EU member states strengthen their projects and AI regulations under European Health Data Space. Now that the technology is in place, there are great opportunities to normalize, standardize, and ensure data quality for interorganizational data sharing to tackle societies toughest challenges.
Building AI literacy
The EU should back educational reform across the region that prioritizes data science and artificial intelligence. Digital literacy and skills are essential for health professionals to strengthen the health system. Developing AI literacy among health care professionals and the public through education initiatives can increase trust and adoption of AI-powered health care solutions across the EU. This can empower the EU to leverage AI to improve its population’s health autonomously.
Given the massive investments in AI by the biopharma sector in countries like the U.S., it’s Europe’s turn to pave the way for science and AI-based leadership in the biopharmaceutical industry. The EU must create an environment that encourages research, development, and manufacturing of innovative health care solutions, fostering collaboration and knowledge-sharing across borders. Europe needs to embrace the world of tomorrow by uniting behind an AI innovation framework that breaks through the competitive global environment we’re facing today.
Paul Hudson is the CEO of Sanofi S.A., a multinational pharmaceutical and health care company headquartered in Paris.