Burjeel Holdings, the Abu Dhabi-listed healthcare provider, has signed a memorandum of understanding with UK biotechnology company Avatrial to explore building an AI-powered cancer drug discovery ecosystem in Abu Dhabi.
The agreement was signed at the Abu Dhabi Future Health Summit, the company said in a statement on Tuesday. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Avatrial was co-founded by Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Prof. Kourosh Saeb-Parsy, a professor at the University of Cambridge who is also its founder and chief executive.
Prof. Khaled Musallam, group chief research officer at Burjeel Holdings, signed for the Abu Dhabi company in the presence of Dr. Shamsheer Vayalil, its chairman and chief executive.
The proposed model would use tumor tissue and clinical data from cancer patients to identify and develop new treatments, with the potential to take candidates into clinical trials.
Surplus tumor tissue given with patient consent and de-identified clinical data could be analyzed, subject to regulatory and ethical approvals, the company said.
AI-assisted molecular profiling would be used to find potential drug targets. Patient-derived models would then be used to test and validate promising candidates.
Candidates that show potential in preclinical testing could move into clinical development, subject to further agreements and regulatory approvals. Nurion CRO, a contract research organization affiliated with Burjeel, is expected to support trial work.
“Our ambition is to move beyond conducting clinical trials of medicines developed elsewhere and become an active contributor to the discovery and development of new therapies,” Musallam said.
Saeb-Parsy said Burjeel’s clinical network could help create synergies in Abu Dhabi and that the model could serve patients across the GCC.
The partnership forms part of Burjeel 2.0, the group’s strategy to expand complex care, clinical research and the use of AI across its hospitals and clinics. It will draw on the oncology work of the Burjeel Cancer Institute.
