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Abu Dhabi Biobank partners with AstraZeneca to advance predictive healthcare. 22 Oct 2026 11:12 ABU DHABI (ALETIHAD) Abu Dhabi Biobank, a strategic initiative between the Department of Health - Abu Dhabi (DoH) and M42, has entered into a collaboration with AstraZeneca to advance predictive healthcare. Announced during the Abu Dhabi Future Health Summit 2026 the collaboration will integrate biological samples, genomics, clinical data and artificial intelligence to enable earlier disease detection, advance rare disease research, and strengthen precision healthcare for populations historically underrepresented globally. Healthcare systems worldwide are seeking more effective ways to predict, prevent and manage disease. At the same time, Middle Eastern populations remain underrepresented in global biomedical research. The collaboration positions Abu Dhabi at the forefront of a new model for healthcare innovation, drawing on Abu Dhabi Biobanks capabilities, genomics, clinical data, and artificial intelligence to generate actionable insights, close critical evidence gaps, and produce findings that are more representative of the populations they are intended to serve. The initiative will advance rare disease research through the integration of genomic, clinical and phenotypic data, helping address conditions that often remain undiagnosed for years and creating opportunities for earlier identification of individuals who may benefit from timely evaluation and care. The initiative will also assess the applicability of MILTON, AstraZeneca's advanced AI-powered disease prediction platform, with a focus on Type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease, which represent a significant and growing health burden globally and regionally. MILTON is designed to use routinely collected health data to identify patterns associated with future disease risk, creating opportunities for earlier intervention and more proactive care across range of diseases. This initiative will evaluate MILTON's applicability in regional populations, helping ensure future healthcare innovations are relevant, effective and reflective of local population characteristics. At the centre of the collaboration is Abu Dhabi Biobank, which serves as a discovery engine for healthcare innovation. It connects more than 5 million biological samples, genomic information from the national Emirati Genome Program, longitudinal clinical records and population health data in a single ecosystem. This integrated approach enables researchers to generate insights that isolated datasets cannot provide. It creates a richer understanding of disease across the patient journey, from genetic risk through to clinical outcomes and accelerates the translation of research into real-world impact. Chief Executive Officer of Integrated Health Solutions at M42, Dr Fahed Al Marzooqi, said, "Healthcare is entering a new era in which data can help us identify risk long before disease becomes clinically apparent. Abu Dhabi Biobank was built to be more than a repository of biological samples; it is an enabler that brings together biology, genomics and clinical insight at scale, to generate knowledge that was previously beyond reach. This will help advance predictive science, evaluate next-generation technologies such as MILTON and shape deeper understanding of human health and more precise healthcare interventions for future generations." For rare diseases, connecting genomic signals with real-world clinical information will help researchers better understand disease pathways. It will support earlier identification of at-risk individuals and accelerate the development of future diagnostic and therapeutic approaches. Emerging AI-driven prediction capabilities offer the potential to identify disease risk before symptoms appear. This could reshape how healthcare systems approach prevention and intervention. Together, these initiatives reflect a shared ambition to move healthcare beyond treating disease towards earlier prediction, detection and intervention. VP Center of Genomic Research, AstraZeneca, Slavé Petrovski, said, "This collaboration will support the creation of high-quality, UAE-specific evidence that can help inform national health policy and strengthen clinical decision-making to improve patient outcomes. Working with M42, we will apply advanced analytics and genomics, including AstraZeneca's advanced MILTON model, to enable earlier identification of population health risk and the development of strategies to improve health outcomes in the UAE." The collaboration reflects a shared belief that the future of healthcare will be defined by its ability to predict, understand and respond to disease earlier. Healthcare systems worldwide are seeking ways to move beyond treating disease towards anticipating it. The collaboration combines novel, complementary, innovative approaches under a shared ambition to identify diseases earlier and predict future disease risk before symptoms emerge. It reflects the nation's vision of longer, healthier lives enabled by an intelligent healthcare system that delivers preventive and personalised care at scale.

China slams US ban on DeepSeek AI over security concerns. by Politixia about 4 hours ago 121 Views Announcement Pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca is teaming up with tech powerhouse Oracle to use artificial intelligence to identify patients for clinical trials and monitor potential safety risks, in a move aimed at speeding up drug development and improving medical research. The partnership will combine AstraZeneca's drug development expertise with Oracle's AI technology and healthcare data capabilities to help researchers match patients with clinical trials and identify potential safety concerns. The collaboration will initially focus on cancer, cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, immunology and rare diseases, with the technology potentially helping doctors diagnose serious illnesses earlier. AstraZeneca CEO Pascal Soriot said the partnership could help researchers and healthcare providers improve patient care through AI-driven technology. "We can help clinicians identify patients sooner, optimize clinical trials, and generate evidence continuously across the lifecycle of a medicine," Soriot said in a statement. The first project will focus on hypertension research in Abu Dhabi, in partnership with UAE-based healthcare company M42. Announcement Patient recruitment remains a major obstacle in clinical research, with enrollment delays often extending trial timelines and driving up development costs. AstraZeneca has also faced clinical trial setbacks, including delays involving a breast cancer treatment and the failure of a nerve disorder drug, raising concerns about its drug development efforts, according to Reuters. The companies have signed a non-binding agreement and have not disclosed financial terms. The partnership comes as AstraZeneca seeks to expand its drug portfolio and reach more than $80 billion in annual revenue by 2030. Announcement Reuters contributed to this report. Announcement

Ambrose Healthcare fortifies rare disease pipeline on AM-Pharma takeover. Ambrose will now enter the race to debut a new medicine on the HPP market as the only approved therapy edges closer to key patent expiries. Ambrose Healthcare has acquired 100% of Dutch pharma company AM-Pharma's shares, absorbing the company and fortifying its pipeline with a rare bone disease drug that's could be set to take on AstraZeneca's blockbuster therapy, Strensiq (asfotase alfa). At the core of this deal is ilofotase alfa, an investigational, Phase II-ready enzyme replacement therapy (ERT) and anti-inflammatory currently in development for an inherited condition called hypophosphatasia (HPP). This rare disease, which impacts approximately one in 100,000 people globally, is characterised by the softening of patients' bones and teeth due to low activity of alkaline phosphatase (ALP) - an enzyme involved in normal skeletal development. Thus far, ilofotase alfa has shown early promise in Phase Ib clinical trials, with the drug having demonstrated its positive safety profile and dose-dependent effect on key biomarkers of disease in HPP across adult patients. On top of securing access to ilofotase alfa, Ambrose's AM-Pharma takeover will also expand the British company's footprint into new territories, as it will now have an established base in the Netherlands - specifically in the central city of Utrecht. According to Toby Wilson Waterworth, CEO of Ambrose, the takeover will also secure the company access to AM's regulatory quality and scientific infrastructure in Europe, offering what he calls "a strong base" from which it can develop the rest of its pipeline. This includes two other acquisition-derived rare disease drugs - namely Val401, a Phase II palliative care and cachexia-targeting medicine for pancreatic cancer, and renzapride, a mid-stage candidate in development to treat gastrointestinal symptoms of cystic fibrosis. Through this acquisition, AM-Pharma's shareholders receive up to €161m (approx. $180m) in upfront and potential milestone payments tied to ilofotase alfa's commercialisation, as well as royalties on potential future sales of the drug. New drugs inch closer to the HPP market. Ambrose's bet on AM-Pharma is the latest in a string of pharma activity in HPP, as companies look to challenge AstraZeneca-owned Alexion Pharmaceuticals' monopoly on the market stemming from ERT, Strensiq, which will start to lose its market exclusivity in 2027. One of the key current players in this race is AstraZeneca itself, which is eyeing a potential place on the HPP market for efzimfotase alfa, despite the drug missing its primary endpoints in the Phase III HICKORY study (NCT06079281). Meanwhile, BioMarin has also hedged its bets on HPP through a $490m acquisition of rare disease drug developer, Alesta Therapeutics - opting to keep only its HPP drug, ALE1. Currently, Strensiq is a blockbuster seller for AstraZeneca, as the drug pulled in more than $1.6bn in sales during 2025. Looking ahead, GlobalData analysts forecast the therapy's sales will peak at $2.1bn in 2027, before taking a hit due to a loss of market exclusivity until the end of the forecast period in 2032. GlobalData is the parent company of Pharmaceutical Technology. Give your business an edge with its leading industry insights.