Igniting Pharma’s Potential?

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This year has indeed been a bountiful year of sport already, with the recent finale to the EURO 2024 soccer competition seeing Spain setting the record for the most titles and the United States co-hosting the T20 World Cup cricket tournament for the first time, to name but a few. However, the most impressive sporting events that have a global audience are the Olympic and Paralympic Games, which are taking place in Paris, France from July 26 until Aug. 11, 2024 and Aug. 28–Sep. 8, 2024, respectively.

Host city Paris has waited 100 years to welcome the Olympic Games back and has never before been the host for the Paralympic Games, which should make for some historic and memorable occasions over the next few months. Sanofi, which is a giant in the field of vaccines and anti-inflammatory treatments, is not usually involved with sporting or cultural events, but has made an exception for the 2024 games being held in the city where the company is headquartered (1).

Younger viewers are increasingly being attracted to watch the games—thanks to the inclusions of sports such as breakdancing and skateboarding—which is something that Sanofi, as a premium sponsor for the 2024 games, hopes to use to its advantage. “We’re using the Olympics to show that we are [cool],” said Josep Catlla, head of corporate affairs at Sanofi, when speaking with Reuters (1).

It is hoped that, through the increased awareness gained from sponsoring the games, the company will be able to attract new talent and remove its conservative image (1). In 2022, Sanofi committed to its ‘ignite the potential in everyone’ campaign for the Paris 2024 games (2). This campaign is aimed at demonstrating the similarities between science and sport, such as overcoming challenges to continue to progress forwards, and to make science inclusive and open to all (3).

We will have to wait and see whether Sanofi’s investment in the Olympics and Paralympics will pay off in the long run with the public or their investors, and whether or not it will be possible to ignite the potential of pharma for the next generation of scientists.

References

1. Naidu, R.; Burger, L. Drugs Group Sanofi Makes Olympic Jump in Rebrand Bid. Reuters, Jan 10, 2024.
2. Sanofi. Sanofi Commits to Ignite the Potential in Everyone. Sanofi.com, Dec. 1, 2022.
3. Sanofi. Paris 2024. Sanofi.com, accessed July 25, 2024.

About the author

Mike Hennessy Jr is president and CEO of MJH Life Sciences®

Article details

Pharmaceutical Technology®
Vol. 48, No. 8
August 2024
Page: 8

Citation

When referring to this article, please cite it as Hennessy, M. Igniting Pharma’s Potential. Pharmaceutical Technology 2024 48 (8).