Abu Dhabi is Nurturing the Next Generation of Life Science Research
The emirate has created funding and growth opportunities to nurture talent, establish a thriving start-up scene, and foster the future of medical innovation.
With its end-to-end pharmaceutical infrastructure, and fertile life science ecosystem, Abu Dhabi is the life science capital of Middle East and North Africa (MENA),but the emirate has even bigger plans for the future.
Dr. Asma Al Mannaei, Executive Director, Research and Innovation Center, Department of Health (DoH) Abu Dhabi, says the DoH plans to, “unleash the potential of the new generation of healthcare workers and researchers to contribute to breakthrough therapies, and find solutions and cures to otherwise untreatable conditions.”
It’s a bold ambition, but the DoH is ensuring its vision of an empowered life science industry that’s ready for anything, by nurturing home-grown talent, attracting the world’s best minds, and incubating innovative start-ups.
This goes beyond ideas and distant goals: The future of medicine is already being defined in Abu Dhabi.
Nurturing talent
In late 2021, the DoH and Pfizer announced a landmark collaboration to train up to 150 qualified clinical researchers within two years, and up to 500 by 2025.
“Participants will receive training courses from the Pfizer clinical research unit, research academy, academic institutions, and other specialized partners,” says Parmjot Bains, Pfizer Gulf Cluster Lead. “The training will focus on technologies and artificial intelligence (AI) tools that accelerate the drug discovery process.”
Once qualified, program participants will play key roles in enriching the Abu Dhabi life science ecosystem. Bains says the program is designed to, “train the trainer so that graduates can act as subject matter experts and disseminate knowledge across different healthcare facilities.” Ultimately, nurturing this skill base will help deliver innovative breakthrough therapies for healthier patients and a healthier community. Each graduate will add to the significant medical knowledge pool in Abu Dhabi.
The Pfizer collaboration operates alongside other initiatives to attract foreign talent, in what is a highly completive global landscape. Highly qualified individuals are offered ten-year Golden Visas, easier pathways to citizenship, and zero-percent income tax. “To create a sustainable ecosystem, we have to balance between building internal talent and capitalizing on existing external talent,” says Dr. Al Mannaei.
With an influx of highly qualified experts, the flourishing life science scene will continue to grow, attracting established international brands such as Pfizer. Understanding that innovation can come in many forms, a top priority of the emirate is to maintain a business-friendly environment.
To create a sustainable ecosystem, we have to balance building internal talent and capitalizing on existing external talent.
Dr. Asma Al Mannaei, Executive Director, Research and Innovation Center, Department of Health Abu Dhabi
Supporting start-ups
Life science start-ups can find a significant amount of support and funding opportunities. The Abu Dhabi Investment Office (ADIO) has a dedicated $545 million Innovation Program. Abu Dhabi’s holding company, ADQ, is strategically investing in life sciences, and the DoH is active in facilitating public-private and inter-organizational partnerships.
But, the DoH offers more direct support. “Start-ups can bring their idea to the DoH and we will work with them in coaching, mentoring, and developing their business campus,” says Dr. Al Mannaei. “We also give access to training and research sites, where they can experiment in a secure regulatory environment.”
ADIO and the DoH also operate the Plug and Play healthcare accelerator, which connects startups with investors, corporate partners, and universities to nurture their development. “It is very rewarding to accompany the brightest minds in the field in bringing their ideas to life,” says Dr. Louiza Chitour, Program and Partnerships Manager for Health at Plug and Play, a company which has worked with over 100 start-ups in the last four years. “We have created a tightly-knit community of alumni that still get in touch with us and update us on their progress.”
Two particular points of pride are, “not just accelerating, but investing in the Emirati-led startup Takalam,” an online counselling platform, and “Predictiv, where we brought a brilliant John Hopkins researcher – Sajung Yun – to Abu Dhabi.” Predictiv uses DNA extracted from patients’ fingernail clippings to create a simulated genetic twin to assess risk of disease and offer preventative advice. Plug and Play connected Yun with the Emirati Genome Program, providing unprecedented levels of genetic data.
Once a start-up is ready to commercialize, Abu Dhabi is one of the best places in the world to turn ideas into reality and bring a medical product to market.
Facilitating commercialization
The Kizad life sciences hub makes it easy for businesses to access a full pharmaceutical value chain, encompassing everything from manufacturing to cold storage and a dedicated air transport hub. Logistically, Abu Dhabi is within an eight-hour flight of half the world’s population. This access presents an incredible opportunity for local start-ups ready to scale globally.
Plug and Play can connect start-ups to partners and investors, including ADIO. “We provide easy access to regulators, providers, and payors within the healthcare ecosystem,” says Dr. Chitour.
And the DoH has been “crafting new policies to allow faster market entry to start-ups, so that patients can access disruptive technologies that could benefit them much earlier,” Dr. Chitour continued. This includes immediately including new therapies in the DoH’s own insurance program should they prove more effective than the current gold standard.
Advancing life sciences
Abu Dhabi has already proven itself as a life science center. But the emirate may be doing more than anywhere else to nurture the next generation of life science researchers, and the next generation of therapeutics. With a business-friendly infrastructure, collaboration and support as standard, and sustained investment, the future of healthcare is being decided in Abu Dhabi.