Mubadala Investment Company PJSC and G42 have signed an agreement to establish a biopharmaceutical manufacturing campus in Abu Dhabi, official sources have said.
The biopharma campus is expected to tap into global state-of-the-art vaccine and therapeutic products to strengthen regional supply chains, said the official sources.
It is also expected to drive the UAE’s diversification and economic-growth agenda.
The biopharma campus would reportedly invest in and establish multiple biopharma initiatives, leveraging the expertise of Mubadala’s manufacturing companies as well as G42’s capabilities in artificial intelligence and cloud computing.
The is expected to focus on end-to-end manufacturing of state-of-the-art biologics and host anchor partnerships with Contract Manufacturing and Development Organizations (CDMOs).
A CDMO model enables manufacturers to work with multiple innovators, reducing product risk and enabling economies of scale.
Global supply shortages and the limited amount of advanced manufacturing activity within the region has apparently resulted in biopharmaceuticals becoming a high growth market (with 10 percent CAGR over the past five years) and a priority investment area for Mubadala within the life sciences sector.
The ability of biopharmaceutical products to address previously untreatable conditions has also inspired confidence in the market’s long-term and future growth potential, said the official sources.
Commenting on the agreement, Mubadala UAE Investments CEO Musabbeh Al Kaabi was quoted as saying, “Through the establishment of this campus in partnership with G42 and our group companies, we are investing in innovation and reinforcing Abu Dhabi’s rapidly developing life sciences ecosystem.”
He added: “Bringing cutting-edge manufacturing technologies to the UAE will not only strengthen our nation’s biopharma supply chain and pandemic response, but provide opportunities for local talent development and long-term, sustainable economic growth.”
AI and cloud-computing firm G42’s Group CEO Peng Xiao said on the occasion: ” There is a massive opportunity for pharma and healthcare companies to leverage AI and cloud technologies to improve their processes, and we at G42 are very pleased to be partnering with Mubadala to build on the respective strengths and further accelerating the development of the UAE’s life sciences ecosystem.”