Sanofi has launched a pioneering funding spin-out called Foundation S.
Using donations, partnerships and collective action, the project will concentrate on three critical areas – childhood cancer, the health of communities that are most vulnerable to climate change and access to life-saving treatment.
Sanofi’s successful ‘My Child Matters’ programme, which focuses on childhood cancer, will form an essential part of Foundation S.
Launched in 2005, ‘My Child Matters’ provides financial support and expertise, enabling all children to access diagnosis and treatment. Since its inception, the programme has helped more than 120,000 children, trained over 50,000 healthcare professionals and has been credited with increasing survival rates.
Additionally, Foundation S will fund awareness and research for childhood cancer across various countries. In combination, these initiatives support the World Health Organization’s objective of achieving at least 60% survival for all children with cancer by 2030 – saving an additional one million lives over the next decade.
Foundation S will work to increase the health resilience of vulnerable populations most impacted by the effects of climate change, including air pollution. It will begin by training healthcare workers, funding satellite clinics and developing a floating hospital in Bangladesh.
Foundation S will also support Sanofi’s long-standing emergency aid efforts and improve the connection between humanitarian and development financing.
In Ukraine, where the company has coordinated and accelerated donations of essential medicines and vaccines for patients and refugees, Foundation S will renew Sanofi’s emergency aid donations programme and will move to expand proactive support, notably for displaced populations.
Serge Weinberg, chairman of the Board of Directors at Sanofi and Foundation S president, explained the motivation for the funding initiative: “As a global healthcare company, we must take part in tackling some of the challenges our society faces. The world changes at an incredible pace and now is the right time to go one step further – Foundation S is focused, agile, the right structure and in a better position to help vulnerable populations across the world.”
Paul Hudson, CEO at Sanofi, concluded: “The launch of Foundation S is a new cornerstone of Sanofi’s commitment to society and a pivotal moment for the life of our company and our people.”