Sanofi collaborates with Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft to set up natural product centre of excellence. The centre of excellence is intended to accelerate the discovery and development of new therapies to treat infectious diseases. Sanofi and Fraunhofer Institute for Molecular Biology and Applied Ecology IME will collaborate to identify and optimise new naturally occurring chemical or biological compounds, mainly in the field of infectious diseases.

The approach is also likely to be extended to other indications such as diabetes, pain and rare diseases, where natural products derived substances have proven to play a major role in treatment and disease prevention.