Sanofi Supports Milken Institute Patient Advocacy Forum on Healthcare Access

Published on: October 5, 2026

Sanofi and patient advocacy group leaders seated at roundtables during Milken Institute Patient Advocacy Forum in Washington, D.C.

Patient advocacy leaders and Sanofi team members gather at the Milken Institute Patient Advocacy Forum in Washington, D.C., to explore how patient influence can shape the future of U.S. healthcare access, AI and innovation.

By Eric Racine, Vice President & Head, US Public Aﬀairs & Patient Advocacy

Every major change in healthcare ultimately reaches the same place: the patient. Scientific innovation is accelerating. Artificial intelligence is changing how people find and interpret health information. Health systems and payers increasingly shape how care is delivered and accessed. Yet progress can only have its intended impact when patients can benefit from it.

That is why Sanofi is proud to support the Milken Institute Patient Advocacy Forum in Washington, D.C. Convened by the Milken Institute, the Forum brings together patient advocacy organizations and professional societies with leaders from healthcare, research, policy, technology and other sectors to examine some of the forces changing the patient experience in the United States.

For Sanofi, supporting this conversation starts with listening.

Patient advocacy organizations see parts of the healthcare experience that no single company or institution can see on its own. Supporting the Milken Institute Patient Advocacy Forum gives us an opportunity to listen to those perspectives, learn alongside others across healthcare, and consider what they mean for how we work with patient communities.

Eric Racine

VP & Head, US Public Affairs and Patient Advocacy, Sanofi

Learning from the People Closest to the Patient Experience

Patient organizations have long played an important role in advancing research, changing public policy, improving access to care and helping healthcare systems better understand the realities patients and families face.

Their role continues to evolve. As healthcare decisions increasingly involve health systems, data, technology and new sources of information, an important question is emerging: How does patient influence evolve with them?

The Forum creates an opportunity to explore that question across organizations and sectors rather than from the perspective of any one company, disease area or part of the healthcare system.

Three Forces Changing the Patient Experience

Several themes throughout the Forum are especially relevant to our work at Sanofi.

Closing the distance between innovation and access

Scientific progress continues to create new possibilities for patients. Yet innovation has limited impact when people face delays in diagnosis, referral, treatment or access. Understanding those gaps requires listening to the organizations that see them every day.

Ensuring patient perspectives are represented in AI and data

AI is increasingly impacting how patients, caregivers and healthcare professionals find and interpret health information. As these technologies develop, credible evidence and lived patient experience need to be part of the information environment. Patient organizations have an important perspective to bring to that discussion.

Considering the next chapter of patient advocacy

Patient organizations have helped shape research, regulation, public policy and access for decades. As healthcare becomes increasingly influenced by systems, technology and data, the Forum provides a setting to consider how patient organizations can continue to bring the patient perspective into the decisions that affect care.

From Conversation to Action

Sanofi's role at the Forum is also part of a broader commitment to working with patient organizations throughout the year.

Across our therapeutic areas, our teams work with advocacy organizations and professional societies to better understand patient journeys, identify barriers to care and bring patient perspectives into our work. The value of a forum like this is the opportunity to hear across those individual relationships.

A challenge experienced in one disease community may point to a broader issue in the healthcare system. An approach developed by one organization may have lessons for others. And changes in technology, policy or care delivery may affect patients across many different conditions. Bringing those perspectives together helps all of us see the larger picture.

A Sanofi senior leader and Milken Institute executive stand in a library setting at a black table with a purple Sanofi mug where they engaged in conversations about improving the patient journey and access to care.

Eric Racine meets with Kristin Schneeman, Senior Director on the FasterCures team at the Milken Institute Health, where they discuss Sanofi and Milken Institute’s longstanding partnership to advance patient advocacy narratives that help improve patient access to innovative care.

What We Take Forward

For Sanofi, supporting the Milken Institute Patient Advocacy Forum is ultimately about learning. We want to understand where patient organizations believe the healthcare system is working, where patients continue to experience friction, and where new forms of collaboration may be needed. Those insights can help inform how we approach our own work and our partnerships with patient communities.

We chase the miracles of science to improve people's lives. Listening to the people those advances are intended to serve helps us better understand what it will take for scientific progress to translate into meaningful progress for patients.

Explore More

Three members of Sanofi’s US Public Affairs and Patient Advocacy team pose at the Milken Institute Patient Advocacy Forum where they brought together patient organizations and leaders across healthcare to examine how patient influence can evolve as science, technology and the healthcare system change

A People-Centered Approach

Patients are at the center of everything we do. We deliver on our mission to build a healthier, more resilient world by partnering with patient advocacy groups and community organizations to help increase access to innovative medicines, vaccines, and care.

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Sanofi employees in the US, like Folake who is seen in this picture, work hard every day to help improve people's lives

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Every day, we chase the miracles of science to improve people's lives. But we don't chase them alone. Behind every breakthrough is a team of people who see their work as more than a job.

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