G42 and Mubadala to establish biopharma manufacturing campus in Abu Dhabi

03-Jan-2022 - Last updated on 04-Jan-2022 at 09:09 GMT

Abu Dhabi-based entities, the sovereign wealth fund, Mubadala Investment Company, and AI and cloud computing specialist, G42, are to set up a biopharma campus there; the move is aimed at bolstering biopharma linked innovation, R&D and manufacturing capabilities in the region.

The hub will focus on vaccine and therapeutic products to “strengthen regional supply chains” and support the United Arab Emirate’s diversification plan, according to a joint statement.

The campus will leverage the expertise of the advanced manufacturing companies backed by Mubadala as well as G42’s capabilities in artificial intelligence and cloud computing, said the parties.

They intend for the hub to facilitate end-to-end manufacturing of biologics and host anchor partnerships with contract manufacturing and development organizations (CDMOs).

Commenting on the agreement, Musabbeh Al Kaabi, CEO of UAE Investments at Mubadala, said that bringing cutting-edge manufacturing technologies to the UAE will not only strengthen its biopharma supply chain and pandemic response, but provide opportunities for local talent development and long-term, sustainable economic growth.

Global supply shortages and the limited amount of advanced manufacturing activity within the region has resulted in biopharmaceuticals becoming a high growth market, with 10% CAGR over the past five years, reported the investor group, which has a $243.4bn (AED 894 billion) portfolio spanning six continents with interests in multiple sectors and asset classes.

Investment highlights

Biopharmaceuticals has become a priority investment area for Mubadala within the life sciences sector.

July last year saw it fork out around US$250m to acquire a stake in Nasdaq listed biosimulation company, Certara. Biosimulation, according to Mubadala, is transforming traditional drug development via computational approaches that save time and cost throughout the entire biopharma R&D process.

That same month, its asset management arm, Mubadala Capital, led a US$70m Series A financing round for, Xilis, Inc, a biotech that has developed scalable MOS technology to analyze patients’ own tumors in their native microenvironment.

Meanwhile, in March 2021, Mubadala signed a long-term investment deal with a UK government entity, pledging an initial £800m (US$1,079m) in funding for the UK life sciences sector over the next five years, with the UK government looking to support the sector in respect of enabling early diagnosis and treatments, along with sustaining the UK's position in novel vaccine discovery development and manufacturing, among other goals.