Qatar: Biotech's Next Frontier

The State of the Biotech Industry in Qatar

What does the biotechnology industry look like in Qatar today? In a word, exciting! Among the strategies to achieve the Middle Eastern country’s National Vision 2030 goal of becoming an advanced society capable of sustaining its development, is a commitment to building a knowledge-based economy with dynamic health and biomedical sectors. The Qatar Foundation is playing an integral role in seeing this come to fruition by investing heavily in biotech research.

Qatar's Burgeoning Biotech Scene

In the final quarter of 2022, Qatar will play host to the 2022 FIFA World Cup. All eyes will be on this country and everything it has to offer.

Due to the abundance and its export of oil and natural gas, Qatar has experienced phenomenal economic growth over the past few decades. In recent years, the country’s leadership has directed a significant portion of the resulting wealth into the development of biotech industry assets. Qatar has the potential to become a regional, if not global, Silicon Valley for biotech companies.

While the State of Qatar occupies a small part of the Arabian Peninsula, it has no shortage of talent, ambition, and resources. With state-of-the-art research facilities and buy-in from local and international investors, the trajectory for biotech development can only be skyward.

Top Players in the Industry

The Qatar Foundation for Education, Science, and Community Development (QF) was established in 1995 with an $8 billion endowment. It is a not-for-profit organisation (NGO) that aims to serve the nation’s people by implementing and supporting innovative and multidisciplinary academic and research programs. Among the entities that the QF has curated are Sidra Medicine, Qatar Biomedical Research Institute (QBRI), and Qatar Science and Technology Park (QSTP). All three of these bodies are funding and collaborating with biotechnology companies at various stages of their development.

1. Sidra Medical and Research Centre

A recent addition to Education City, Sidra Medicine is a state-of-the-art, 400-bed hospital committed to providing world-class health care to women and children in Qatar. This progressive facility aims to allow medical students to learn in a state-of-the-art, technologically advanced environment while providing top-notch healthcare.

2. Qatar Biomedical Research Institute

QBRI is an international hub for biomedical and translational research. Multidisciplinary teams collaborate to improve diagnosis and develop precision medicine therapies. The QBRI facilitates research programs, partnering with prominent national and international institutions, with an emphasis on cancer, neurological disorders, and diabetes.

3. Qatar Science and Technology Park

QSTP is a commercial development hub created with the purpose of applying research, innovation, and entrepreneurship to deliver market-ready technologies in energy, environment, and health. To date, over 4.3 billion QAR (US$1.2 billion / $AU1.8 billion) has been invested in research and development by international companies registered at QSTP. The technology park offers a “Free Zone” which offers tailored solutions to companies of all shapes and sizes. Free Zone incentives include aspects such as quick setup, 100% ownership, no import charges or export duties, tax incentives, and no restrictions on the repatriation of capital, profits, and salaries.

4. Qatar National Research Fund

In 2006, as part of its ongoing bid to build Qatar as a knowledge-based economy, QF established a centre within the R&D institution to advance knowledge and education by providing support for researchers. In the first six years, the Qatar National Research Fund (QNRF) funded more than 700 projects under its flagship funding program, National Priorities Research Program (NPRP), amounting to more than US $600 million in grants.

5. Hamad Bin Khalifa University

The Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU) was founded in 2010. It is Qatar’s flagship national university within Education City, facilitating research and graduate studies to equip the next generation of Qatari impact-makers.

Qatar’s?Biotech Industry:?Opportunities for Growth

One of the events that put Qatar on the Biotech world map is that Sidra often hosts major events inviting international experts to address the complexities of genome biology and human illnesses. It is hosting the Precision Medicine and Functional Genomics 2022 Conference in September 2022. I will be a keynote speaker at the conference's Biotech Forum, emphasising how venture philanthropy and international collaboration can make a significant impact in the development of novel treatments for life-threatening illnesses by advancing early-stage biotech companies.

Venture Philanthropy

Venture philanthropy is the idea of providing capital without requiring a return on investment (ROI) in the form of a portion of that business. For venture philanthropists, the ROI is measured in terms of social change — alleviating human suffering and impactful medical progress. In other words, making a difference, instead of making an ROI. Venture philanthropists should invest in providing resources beyond grants and present biotech start-ups with no-strings-attached capital. This will ensure the gap between pre-clinical research (funded by governments and universities) and clinical research (funded by industry) can be bridged, advancing pioneering ideas into clinical development.

Meaningful International Collaboration

It is exciting to witness the scale of growth in biotech development that a country like Qatar is nurturing. When you factor in the kind of international collaboration embraced by the QSTP, truly meaningful progress can be made. On a global scale, collaborations via clinical trials like GBM AGILE are paving the way for more innovative approaches to clinical trial design.?

The Biotech Industry Plays a Critical Role in the Rapid Roll Out of Precision Medicine

Research pursued in the biotech industry is critical to the development of precision medicine. The development and support of biomedical research are integral to alleviating the burden of diabetes, hypertension, neurological disorders, and cancer on our societies. Global collaboration can help to augment the accumulation of sufficient data to bring timely personal solutions to patients in need, while venture philanthropy can provide the resources that biotech research companies need to move from ideation to solution creation.

Copyright ? 2022 Lance Kawaguchi. All Rights Reserved.