Abu Dhabi: The Life Science Capital of the Middle East

“Abu Dhabi is a small cohort for the world,” says Dr. Asma Al Mannaei, Executive Director, Research and Innovation Center, Department of Health Abu Dhabi. “We have more than 200 nationalities living together. If your solution works in Abu Dhabi, it will work in the rest of the world.”

The emirate’s demographics are one reason Abu Dhabi was the perfect choice to host the largest single-site phase three trial of a Covid-19 vaccine, proving the efficacy of the third most delivered Covid-19 jab in the world, developed by Sinopharm. Another is a track record of significant infrastructure investment, which Dr. Al Mannaei attributes to Abu Dhabi’s successful vaccine response. “Because we had the tools to monitor any side effect, in almost real-time, [it] enabled us to deal with these challenges in a confident approach.”

Abu Dhabi’s Kizad Life Science Park, which holds a full pharmaceutical value chain in one place, is a perfect example of what investment can achieve.

Life science organizations also have access to essential infrastructure, such as warehousing and cold storage, a dedicated pharmaceutical air hub, and partnership and investment opportunities. They also have access to Abu Dhabi’s digital health platform, its vast datasets, and 16 research universities and more than 72 authorized facilities to conduct human subject research.

Businesses and researchers have everything they need to research, develop, commercialize, and distribute medical products. According to Dr. Al Mannaei, support is available from the early stages of mentorship and proof of concept, through to validation studies at key Abu Dhabi hospitals, before finally navigating regulation and commercial approval.

The Department of Health Abu Dhabi launched Malaffi, the region’s first Health Information Exchange platform, in 2019. This unique digital ecosystem connects every medical care facility in the emirate for easy sharing of patient information and provides researchers with tiered and encrypted access to this vast store of health data.

Malaffi was crucial to the emirate’s Covid-19 response, explains Dr. Al Mannaei: “We used our wealth of data to guide policy decisions, and enable us to conduct such a large clinical trial with confidence, because we had the tools to monitor any side effect, almost in real-time.”

Parsing this data so quickly was made possible by G42, an AI-powered healthcare company, which donated the use of Artemis, its most powerful supercomputer, to the scientific community during the pandemic.

“We want to champion AI as a tool to power progress and reduce the healthcare burden,” says Ashish Koshy, CEO of G42 Healthcare. The company is working on chronic disease management and predictive healthcare solutions based on electronic health record (EHR) data and genome sequencing. And it is working with AstraZeneca to “boost innovation in the sector” by “exploring real-world evidence in genomics and comprehensive clinical diagnostic services.” 

This kind of inter-organizational partnership is a key component of Abu Dhabi’s growth strategy and ambition, providing an ambitious platform for stakeholders from all over the industry to collaborate.

The HOPE Consortium is a six-partner initiative led by the Department of Health Abu Dhabi to distribute Covid-19 vaccines. It is one of the world’s largest and most integrated logistics efforts, encompassing everything from vast storage facilities to temperature-controlled air transport. The initiative has delivered over 260 million vaccine doses to more than 60 countries.

HOPE Consortium members are a mix of public and private, and domestic, spearheaded by the Department of Health Abu Dhabi. It is a testament to Abu Dhabi’s flourishing life science ecosystem. But it is also a success story for the investment strategy of ADQ, Abu Dhabi’s acceleration-focused holding company, in nurturing that ecosystem.

“Building on a series of strategic acquisitions, we are creating a strong platform to fortify the UAE’s position as a regional hub for pharmaceutical manufacturing, commercialization, and distribution,” says Fahad Al Qassim, Executive Director, Healthcare & Pharma at ADQ. “Our aim is to ensure access to affordable, essential medicines and advance new, innovative treatments that improve people’s lives.”

It’s a proven approach: The Abu Dhabi Medical Devices Company (ADMD) has shipped over 2 billion syringes worldwide in the last two decades, including 460 million auto-disable syringes – which prevent reuse, stymieing infection. Having a full value chain on its doorstep, which provides low-cost, high-quality production and logistics, has been integral to its success.

Abu Dhabi’s life science ecosystem has already had a major impact on global healthcare. But this is just the beginning. The UAE intends to treble its R&D spending by 2031. And Abu Dhabi is actively incubating innovation, including new treatments in its insurance plan as soon as they prove greater efficacy than the current gold standard.

Abu Dhabi is the life science capital of MENA. But it is rapidly becoming a major global center. As Dr. Al Mannaei says, “We are co-creating the future of healthcare.”