Abu Dhabi healthcare company Burjeel Holdings is aiming to do more clinical trials in the UAE, as it seeks to boost its oncology and paediatric services, its chairman has said.
A total of 25 clinical trials have been either completed or are under way by the company. These include a multicentre study of the efficacy and safety of the drug Mitapivat for patients with thalassaemia, an inherited blood disorder, as well as trials in cancer treatment.
In April, the Department of Health in Abu Dhabi also said it had successfully completed a clinical trial in collaboration with Swedish company Cellcolabs and Burjeel Holdings to evaluate cell-based therapies for degenerative joint diseases.
“Clinical trials are coming up – it's about seeing the opportunity, inviting pharma here, because clinical trials have never happened outside [the traditional hubs]. So we are opening up a new horizon,” Dr Shamsheer Vayalil, founder and chairman of Burjeel Holdings, told The National at the Make it in the Emirates event in Abu Dhabi.
“But for that, you need the clinical strength … We have it now, and we are adding on to it. It's a constantly evolving process, but we have made a lot of progress,” Dr Vayalil added. There is already “huge” global interest in the region, he said.
Earlier in May, it was announced that the UAE will host the first clinical trials outside the US of a wireless brain chip made by tech billionaire Elon Musk's Neuralink company. The chip is designed to improve the lives of paralysed people. The Department of Health in Abu Dhabi said it had teamed up with Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi and Neuralink to launch the trial programme, known as UAE-PRIME.
“Health care should become a way of enabling the economy,” Dr Vayalil said. “We want to improve the GDP. We want to bring clinical trials. We want to bring in research. We want to train doctors. We want this to become a mode of enabling an economy.
“We have interest in trials, we have interest in pharma, we have interest in innovation. So that's how we look at health care. I think health care should move more into solutions.”
Clinics on ships
Burjeel Holdings this week also revealed more details of its healthcare logistics joint venture with AD Ports Group, called Docktour.
The platform is focused on addressing Africa’s healthcare challenges and will facilitate the deployment of modular healthcare units, including container-based hospitals and clinics. It will also help to set up full-service medical infrastructure, including field hospitals and permanent facilities.
Docktour will also provide emergency response capabilities and support local capacity-building through clinical training.
The joint venture will partner with national health ministries, international NGOs, and UAE-led humanitarian initiatives to provide services.
“I think this is going to be something that will disrupt [the market] … it's a local solution for a global problem,” Dr Vayalil said. “What is the problem today? It is the reach, logistics, manpower. We work in remote sites. For us, the growth should come from deserving places as well, meaningful growth.”
However, he also stressed that the company focuses on “bankable projects” and that their plan with Docktour was long-term.
“I'm not too worried about where the bill will come. We are talking to various organisations. We are making a model which is very compelling. We are going to show governments how they can save on the cost,” he said.
Cancer care in focus
Abu Dhabi-listed Burjeel Holding this month reported a 64 per cent drop in first quarter net profit attributable to shareholders to reach Dh36.37 million ($9.9 million), although revenue rose by 5.7 per cent to Dh1.27 billion. Revenue growth was driven by a 5.3 per cent annual increase in patient footfall.
The company said it was hit by a “number of operational challenges, with group performance impacted by a sharper-than-anticipated slowdown in March and delays in the conversion of complex care programmes”.
The hiring of niche specialists is one reason that quarterly earnings were affected, Dr Vayalil said.
“You hire a haemato-oncologist, who is not a regular physician … he takes a while to settle down, the referral system needs to fall in place. So, we are deliberately taking certain decisions which are time-consuming, because if I only look at the balance sheet and [quarter to quarter], we're not going to be meaningful. We always say that it's the net result versus the Q-to-Q,” he said.
The company is focusing heavily on cancer care and building the practice. In April, it partnered with US non-profit Caring Cross to locally manufacture CAR T-cell therapies at up to 90 per cent less than current international costs, estimated to range from $350,000 to more than $1 million.
CAR-T therapies reprogramme a patient’s immune cells to attack cancer cells and are being used to treat blood cancers such as leukaemia and lymphoma. Caring Cross will support with the technology, materials and specialised training to establish a local system.
“We don’t want to be a supermarket of health care, we want to be a boutique. Ultimately, we want to be known for certain things. Cancer is top of our stuff, as well as paediatrics,” Dr Vayalil said.
The company is considering further expansion in Africa and other emerging markets, he said, but did not provide any specifics.
Dr Vayalil also said Burjeel is focused on using technology to support physicians. “We don't want to take a position of replacing the doctor,” he said.
“If you ask me about five-year growth, I would not be able to even define and tell you precisely, but if our execution ability would prevail, I think we will make lot of noise in the right direction.”
