Prime Highlights-
- Frost & Sullivan expects Middle East precision medicine to grow 10 to 12 percent as UAE genomics and AI spending expands.
- Abu Dhabi’s HELM cluster should attract over AED 42 billion in investment and create about 30,000 jobs by 2045.
Key Facts-
- The Emirati Genome Program targets one million genetic samples, while 50,000 genomes are already under study.
- WHX 2027 runs January 25 to 28 in Dubai and adds a new Pharma Zone.
Background-
Frost & Sullivan expects precision medicine in the Middle East to grow 10 to 12 percent over the next five to seven years, with the UAE setting the pace. The forecast comes from a new report prepared for World Health Expo (WHX).
Titled “From Discovery to Delivery: The Technologies Reshaping Global Biopharma,” the report credits UAE spending on genomics, artificial intelligence (AI) and advanced manufacturing for the shift.
The Emirati Genome Program wants one million genetic samples. Separately, the UAE Reference Genome study is analyzing over 50,000 samples. In Abu Dhabi, the Health, Endurance, Longevity and Medicine (HELM) cluster should draw more than AED 42 billion in investment and create about 30,000 jobs by 2045.
Drug production is moving closer to home too. Mubadala Bio opened in 2025 with a mandate to strengthen drug manufacturing and supply logistics inside the UAE. Across the border in Saudi Arabia, Lifera and Novo Nordisk are exploring whether GLP-1 therapies can be made locally.
AI is also cutting discovery time. At its Abu Dhabi center, Insilico Medicine put forward the UAE’s first preclinical drug candidates found entirely through AI in 2025, and the team wrapped up the discovery phase in less than a year.
Frost & Sullivan’s Aarti Chitale noted that as genomic datasets expand, countries in the region can develop their own research programs and treatments rather than relying on technology created elsewhere.
WHX will open a new Pharma Zone at its 2027 edition. The show runs January 25 to 28 in Dubai and expects more than 90,000 attendees.
