The UAE is quickly advancing its precision medicine and genomics capabilities, establishing itself as a major emerging global clinical trial hub, said Adel Aziziyeh, Head of Clinical Operations at IROS, a UAE-based contract research organisation (CRO) at a recent conference.
Aziziyeh was speaking at the Outsourcing in Clinical Trials (OCT) and Clinical Trial Supply (CTS) Korea 2025 held earlier this month, 2–3 December.
The region’s rapid evolution is the result of long-term national strategies, including UAE Vision 2031 and Saudi Vision 2030, which explicitly prioritise clinical research infrastructure, said Aziziyeh. Across the Gulf region, governments have expanded hospital networks, advanced diagnostic capabilities, trained specialist workforces and adopted unified digital systems, he said, which have resulted in an environment capable of supporting fast, high-quality, globally competitive clinical trials.
Population diversity and high healthcare expenditure position the UAE uniquely.
One of the region’s strongest advantages lies in its demographic diversity, Aziziyeh noted. The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) is home to residents from more than 200 nationalities, offering a naturally heterogeneous population that is increasingly attractive for global multicentre trials seeking broad ethnic representation. Combined with some of the highest healthcare expenditure levels in the developing world, the region has built modern research facilities, artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled digital platforms and widely integrated electronic medical records that reduce data inconsistencies and accelerate trial processes, Aziziyeh added.
According to the speaker, the UAE in particular has distinguished itself for setting regional benchmarks for healthcare quality. In 2022, more than 70 clinical studies were conducted in the region and the number of dedicated research institutions in Abu Dhabi and Dubai is growing, Aziziyeh said. Fully electronic ethics reviews, regulatory and site submissions have made timelines more predictable, allowing initial Department of Health and Health Authority reviews to be completed within weeks and full approvals in two to three months, he emphasised.
Strategic partnerships with global pharmaceutical companies, academic centres and biotech networks have also accelerated the UAE’s presence as a clinical trial hub, with the most important shifts happening within the precision medicine and genomics space.
UAE’s spotlight on genomics and precision medicine
Central to the region’s ecosystem is the Emirati Genome Program, which is a population-scale initiative that has already sequenced over 840,000 genomes. With a biobank that has the capacity to sequence half a million genomes per year, the program offers researchers unprecedented insight into population-specific disease risks, the speaker said. According to him, this data is directly influencing clinical trial design and inclusion criteria, enabling earlier identification of patients with certain genetic traits, and helping reduce screening failure rates, especially in rare diseases, metabolic disorders and oncology indications, he added.
Technologies such as AI-driven imaging platforms, pharmacogenomics systems and eligibility-matching algorithms are already embedded in workflows in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, which allow researchers to identify biomarkers, optimise dosing strategies and recruit patients with improved speed and precision, he added.
The UAE and broader Gulf region is transitioning to become strategically significant clinical research hubs, said Aziziyeh. The combination of demographic diversity, advanced digital infrastructure, regulatory efficiency and genomics focus is accelerating global interest in the area. “The region is moving fast,” Aziziyeh said, “and sponsors who engage now will be well positioned to capitalise on a research ecosystem built for speed, quality and innovation.”
