A biobank scheduled to open next year in Abu Dhabi's Masdar City is set to become a cornerstone of medical research and could store up to five million biological samples and 100,000 stem cells.
The state-of-the-art centre, spanning 2,000 square metres, will house the largest collection of human biomaterials in the region, including blood, saliva and cell samples.
Launched in collaboration between M42 and the Department of Health at the inaugural Abu Dhabi Global Healthcare Week, the biobank has the potential to lead research and boost efforts to discover cures for many of today’s diseases.
“The Abu Dhabi biobank aims to establish a comprehensive bio-repository,” Albarah Elkhani, senior vice president at M42, told The National.
“This facility will collect a variety of human biological materials alongside associated data to aid in research and, ultimately, drug discovery.”
A diverse collection
Tumour tissues from specific cancers, as well as blood and saliva will be among the samples at the centre, Mr Elkhani said. It will also store cord blood - blood that remains in the placenta and umbilical cord after birth.
The diverse collection will enable blind assessments and targeted research efforts to identify novel treatments and interventions for health issues.
“What makes this initiative stand out is its focus on cord-blood banking, which will be available both privately and publicly, making it the region’s first public cord-blood bank,” Mr Elkhani added.
“By integrating genomic data with biological samples, we are creating an innovation hub that will allow for international collaboration, thereby ensuring our population is represented in global drug discovery efforts.”
The biobank, which is to serve everyone in the region, is designed to address the underrepresentation of Middle Eastern and Asian communities in global clinical trials and drug discoveries.
Mr Elkhani emphasised the importance of informed consent from patients for cord-blood banking and hospital collections, with samples to be used ethically for research purposes.
“Our biobank will not only be a repository for samples but will also serve as a hub for data integration and analysis, aiding in drug discovery and research. This integration is crucial for the future success of the Abu Dhabi biobank,” he said.
The biobank is in the first net-zero building in Masdar City. It is focused not only on the physical storage of samples but also on the integration of diverse data sets.
“Regarding manpower, the facility is committed to employing the best local talent available while also placing a significant emphasis on developing national expertise,” Mr Elkhani said.
“Collaborations with universities are under way to develop programmes specifically tailored to biobanking. This strategy, developed in partnership with the Department of Health, aims to upskill Emiratis in this nascent scientific field, building local expertise through Master’s and PhD programmes designed to cultivate subject matter experts within the domain.”
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Will the pound fall to parity with the dollar?
The idea of pound parity now seems less far-fetched as the risk grows that Britain may split away from the European Union without a deal.
Rupert Harrison, a fund manager at BlackRock, sees the risk of it falling to trade level with the dollar on a no-deal Brexit. The view echoes Morgan Stanley’s recent forecast that the currency can plunge toward $1 (Dh3.67) on such an outcome. That isn’t the majority view yet – a Bloomberg survey this month estimated the pound will slide to $1.10 should the UK exit the bloc without an agreement.
New Prime Minister Boris Johnson has repeatedly said that Britain will leave the EU on the October 31 deadline with or without an agreement, fuelling concern the nation is headed for a disorderly departure and fanning pessimism toward the pound. Sterling has fallen more than 7 per cent in the past three months, the worst performance among major developed-market currencies.
“The pound is at a much lower level now but I still think a no-deal exit would lead to significant volatility and we could be testing parity on a really bad outcome,” said Mr Harrison, who manages more than $10 billion in assets at BlackRock. “We will see this game of chicken continue through August and that’s likely negative for sterling,” he said about the deadlocked Brexit talks.
The pound fell 0.8 per cent to $1.2033 on Friday, its weakest closing level since the 1980s, after a report on the second quarter showed the UK economy shrank for the first time in six years. The data means it is likely the Bank of England will cut interest rates, according to Mizuho Bank.
The BOE said in November that the currency could fall even below $1 in an analysis on possible worst-case Brexit scenarios. Options-based calculations showed around a 6.4 per cent chance of pound-dollar parity in the next one year, markedly higher than 0.2 per cent in early March when prospects of a no-deal outcome were seemingly off the table.
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Europe’s rearming plan
- Suspend strict budget rules to allow member countries to step up defence spending
- Create new "instrument" providing €150 billion of loans to member countries for defence investment
- Use the existing EU budget to direct more funds towards defence-related investment
- Engage the bloc's European Investment Bank to drop limits on lending to defence firms
- Create a savings and investments union to help companies access capital
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- infant formulas and follow-on milks, health and slimming products such as powdered or fortified meal and dish substitutes,
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