Sanofi and McLaren Racing partner for manufacturing excellence

Sanofi is partnering with McLaren Racing to accelerate manufacturing efficiency and performance in support of the company’s ambition to attain world-class standards of manufacturing excellence.

Following a successful pilot in 2021, both companies have decided to extend their collaboration across multiple sites in seven countries, covering more than 100 production lines, across all technologies. Learnings from this partnership will provide insights and develop best practices for manufacturing that will then be implemented across Sanofi’s global industrial network.

McLaren Racing experts will collaborate with Sanofi’s Industrial Affairs team to enable continued optimisation of its manufacturing operations, enabling its global network to better support the supply of its broad portfolio, as well as enhancing the delivery of its R&D pipeline, with 25 new launches expected in the next five years to meet patients’ needs around the world.

“We are thrilled to partner with McLaren and learn from their winning spirit and culture of going over and above,” commented Paul Hudson, Chief Executive Officer, Sanofi. “I see a lot of commonalities in our shared values to stretch, with courage and determination, so we can maximise performance and operational excellence. We want to run our lines with the speed, precision and efficiency of an F1 racing team.”

McLaren Racing will bring its digital and analytical expertise and skills to further elevate Sanofi’s performance by helping to better anticipate and resolve issues before they take place. Modelling simulation of production line changeovers and operations will be key areas of McLaren’s Formula 1 experience, as exemplified using advanced data analytics, and expertise used to optimise the famed pit stops of F1 races.

Zak Brown, Chief Executive Officer, McClaren Racing, stated: “We are thrilled to be partnering with Sanofi. It is important that two global companies who share values work together to maximise performance. We look forward to continuing to collaborate with Sanofi to make a positive impact not only in manufacturing, but to help Sanofi improve patients’ lives.”

Beyond the technical leadership from F1, the collaboration will bring a specific focus on the people dimension of high performance. The partnership will bring a race-like mindset, emulating the competitive, fast paced environment of F1 racing to help accelerate improvements, learnings and sharing of best practices individually and collectively across sites, fostering a ‘one Sanofi spirit’. Sanofi added that this unique opportunity will marry the best of the two companies with the speed, agility, teamwork and constant improvement required to succeed in motor racing, as well as in healthcare discoveries.