AI and Pharmaceutical Sciences Symposium
On Wednesday, December 10, 2025, the School of Pharmacy organized the “AI & Pharmaceutical Sciences” symposium, a day-long event dedicated to the challenges, opportunities, and limitations of artificial intelligence in research, education, industry, and professional practice in pharmacy.
The morning began with opening remarks by Philippe Augé, President of the University of Montpellier, and Vincent Lisowski, Dean of the Faculty of Pharmacy. David Cassagne, Vice President for Digital Education at the University of Montpellier, then presented the initiatives and strategic directions being pursued at the University of Montpellier in the field of artificial intelligence.
The first presentations provided a scientific and critical perspective on AI, notably with a talk by Dr. Marc-André Delsuc, Emeritus Research Director at the CNRS (University of Strasbourg), before moving on to discuss concrete applications in research and the pharmaceutical industry. Asmaa Mrabti, Project Leader, and Dr. Nicolas Bonnet, Head of Clinical Digital & AI Acceleration at Sanofi, presented the role of AI in augmented clinical trials.
Academic research was also highlighted with presentations by Marianne Richaud, a bioinformatics engineer and Ph.D. student at the IRCM, on the non-invasive detection of cancer using AI, followed by Charles Berger, a bioengineer and Ph.D. student at the IRCM, on radiomics and the prospects for virtual biopsies in ovarian cancer.
The late morning was devoted to the professional applications of AI in pharmacies and in industry-specific tools, with presentations by Dr. Vincent L’Huriec, Dr. Xavier Schneider, a digital health expert, as well as Nicolas Guidi and Nicolas Conte, who discussed the integration of AI into Winpharma’s WinPrescription solution.
Student practices and educational challenges were then discussed by Robin Broult, a pharmacy student in Montpellier and a master’s student in Health Engineering, followed by a presentation on AI and teaching at the School of Pharmacy by Maud Harnichard, an instructional designer, and Dr. Maxime Louet (IBMM).
Legal issues wrapped up the morning with presentations by Prof. Malo Depince (Faculty of Law and Political Science) and Prof. Cécile Le Gal Fontes (Department of Pharmacy) on the legal framework for AI, the AI Act, and its implications for the healthcare sector.
The afternoon featured two roundtable discussions that drew a particularly large audience. The first, focused on ethical issues, brought together Prof. Alain Chavanieu, Dr. Guillaume Monziols, and Dr. Virginie Rage-Andrieu. The second, devoted to educational issues, brought together Dr. Maxime Louet, Maud Harnichard, Dr. Patrice Ravel, Prof. Cyril Breuker (PU-PH), and Robin Broult.
Through a diversity of perspectives and cross-disciplinary insights, this symposium highlighted the transformations brought about by artificial intelligence in the pharmaceutical sciences, while emphasizing the importance of ongoing dialogue among research, education, professional practice, law, and ethics.
The School of Pharmacy would like to thank all the speakers and participants for the quality of the discussions and their commitment throughout the day, as well as the organizers, Alain Chavanieu and Patrice Ravel.