Sanofi has also struck a three-year, $90 million, cancer-related research collaboration with Owkin.

Sanofi (NASDAQ: SNY) announced today an investment of $180 million in Owkin, a Paris-based startup that utilizes AI and federated learning for medical research. Owkin’s platform connects life science companies with academic researchers and hospitals to share deep medical insights for drug discovery and development. Additionally, as a part of its AI-empowered precision medicine activities, Owkin builds predictive biomedical AI models and robust data sets. (Sanofi)

Strategic AI collaboration

Sanofi also inked a strategic collaboration with Owkin for drug discovery and developmental research on four exclusive types of cancer.

Sanofi will pay $90 million for this three-year programme, plus additional payments based on achievement of research milestones.

“Sanofi’s investment in the company includes a three-year agreement that will help discover and develop new treatments for non-small cell lung cancer, triple negative breast cancer, mesothelioma and multiple myeloma,” said John Reed, M.D., Ph.D., Global Head of Research and Development, Sanofi. “This partnership will help accelerate our ambitious oncology program as we advance a rich pipeline of medicines to address unmet patient needs.”

“We believe that the future of precision medicine lies in technologies that can unlock insights from the vast amount of patient data in hospitals and research centers in a privacy-preserving and secure way,” said Thomas Clozel, M.D., Co-Founder and CEO at Owkin. “This landmark partnership with Sanofi will see federated learning used to create research collaborations at a truly unprecedented scale. The future of AI to transform how we develop treatments is incredibly bright, and we are proud to partner with Sanofi on this mission.”

Owkin is a unicorn

According to Reuters, Sanofi’s investment of $180 million gives it a 10 – 15% stake in Owkin, as revealed by company co-founder and CEO Thomas Clozel.

Though a valuation was not disclosed, Clozel confirmed Owkin had joined the ‘unicorn’ club.

This is the second deal this month involving a buyout or investment in a French AI startup. Earlier, Royal Philips (NYSE: PHG) acquired Paris-based Cardiologs for AI-based cardiac disgnostics.

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