In the first week of 2026, the global AI drug discovery field ushered in two major cross-border cooperation deals, highlighting the heavy layout of international pharmaceutical giants in China’s AI drug discovery capabilities. Sanofi upgraded its strategic cooperation with Earendil Labs under Huashen Zhiyao, with a total value of $2.56 billion; Servier signed an $888 million R&D agreement with Insilico Medicine, focusing on challenging targets in the oncology field.

The cooperation between Sanofi and Earendil Labs has upgraded from specific drug authorization to platform-level cooperation. Earendil will develop new bispecific antibodies for Sanofi through its AI discovery platform, and the latter has obtained global exclusive development and commercialization rights. Insilico Medicine will cooperate with Servier relying on its Pharma.AI platform. Servier will lead subsequent clinical verification and commercialization, and Insilico Medicine is eligible to receive an upfront payment of up to $32 million plus milestone payments.

AI technology is reshaping the logic of new drug R&D, breaking the traditional pattern of “10 years, $1 billion, 10% success rate.” As of the end of 2023, the Phase I clinical success rate of AI-discovered molecules reached 87.5%. Currently, the value of Chinese AI drug discovery companies has upgraded from algorithm output to platform-level capability verification. However, the industry still faces the challenge of no AI-led new drugs being launched. Institutions believe that cross-border cooperation will accelerate technology landing, and enterprises integrating data, algorithms and biological insights will dominate the future pattern.