Sanofi and Gustave Roussy are strengthening their strategic oncology research collaboration

Paris and Villejuif, France – 19th January 2023

Sanofi and Gustave Roussy are strengthening their strategic oncology research collaboration

Sanofi and Gustave Roussy are announcing today new collaborative efforts focussed on three early-phase oncological research projects.

Two of these are immunologically based and will look for novel therapeutic targets; the third is intended to explore mechanisms of resistance to targeted therapies:

• the first aims to define specific targets on the myeloid immune cells found within various types of tumours and, in particular, cancers that are resistant to immunotherapeutic agents.   
• the second will study the role of memory T cells within lung cancer tumours in the response to anti-PD1/L1 immunotherapy.
• the third project is designed to develop innovative techniques to measure tumour heterogeneity, plasticity and the microenvironment involved in resistance to targeted therapies, and the study of persistent cancer cells, which are responsible for relapses. 

To carry out their joint translational research, Sanofi and Gustave Roussy researchers will rely on Gustave Roussy personalised medicine programmes and will be well placed to benefit from the nearby Paris-Saclay Cancer Cluster and its technology facilities.

This latest oncology research collaboration will supplement the 2012 framework-agreement between Sanofi and Gustave Roussy that incorporated in 2016 a number of fruitful clinical and translational research projects with the objectives of identifying new therapeutic targets and aiding Sanofi’s development of novel oncological agents.   

“The extension of our collaboration with Sanofi is totally in keeping with Gustave Roussy’s 2030 strategic programme which includes harnessing the strengths of the Paris Saclay Cancer Cluster. These major scientific plans reflect our shared desire to work together in the context of personalised therapy in order to make key advances of benefit to cancer patients,” stated Professor Fabrice Barlesi, Gustave Roussy General Director.

“We are delighted to be signing these new agreements which strengthen the strategic collaborative ties of some years’ standing between our research teams and those of Gustave Roussy. This is a concrete manifestation of the drive inherent in our ecosystem, as well as Sanofi’s commitment to speed up the discovery of novel oncological therapeutic agents for patients who have a great need of them,” declared Jacques Volckmann, Vice-Chair Research and Development, Sanofi France.