Sanofi, a global and diversified healthcare leader, discovers, develops and distributes therapeutic solutions focused on patients’ needs, and the Institut Pasteur,an internationally renowned centre of biomedical research,  announced creation of the Sanofi-Institut Pasteur Awards to encourage scientific excellence in the service of health.

Four hundred and eighty thousand euro (480,000 €) will support four innovative research projects demonstrating real progress in the life sciences and providing answers to major healthcare problems, more specifically in four fields: neglected tropical diseases, vaccine innovation, drug resistance, and therapeutic approaches to ageing and regenerative medicine.

The jury is composed of seven prestigious members: Prof. Peter C. Agre, John Hopkins University, Baltimore, United States, Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2003, Prof. Elizabeth H. Blackburn, University of California, San Francisco, Nobel Prize in Medicine 2009, Prof. Pascale Cossart, Head of the Bacteria-Cell Interactions Unit, Institut Pasteur, Prof. Alice Dautry, president of the Institut Pasteur, Prof. Depei Liu, vice president of the Academy of Engineering of China and president of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and the Peking Union Medical College, Dr Robert Sebbag, vice president, Access to Medicines, Sanofi, and Dr Elias Zerhouni, president, global R&D, Sanofi.

“With these awards, the Institut Pasteur confirms its commitment to the greater interest by encouraging research, notably in conditions affecting the most vulnerable populations and diseases sharply on the rise in the world,” said Alice Dautry, president of the Institut Pasteur.

“I am enthusiastic about this collaborative endeavour with the Institut Pasteur which will promote and support research teams capable of making a real difference in the lives of patients and in key areas of public health,” said Elias Zerhouni, president, global R&D of Sanofi. “The Sanofi-Institut Pasteur Awards follow a long-standing partnership between our two organizations.”

Candidates can submit their applications by April 20, 2012. The prices will be awarded in November 2012 at the Institute Pasteur in Paris.

Sanofi and the Institut Pasteur have a long history of partnership which reflects Louis Pasteur philosophy which states that "Pure research and applied research are not separate entities. Research and its applications are united together as the fruit of the tree is united with the branch that bears it”.

The first partnership emerged through the establishment of the dedicated fund "Fighting Parasitic Diseases" which led to the creation of new research teams. Today, Sanofi also sponsors the Center for Integrative Biology of Emerging Diseases (BIME) and collaborates with the Institut Pasteur in the development of new vaccines against infectious diseases.