Strategic Overview
The National Biotechnology Strategy was launched in 2020 as part of the UAE’s broader push into advanced technology sectors. The strategy identifies biotechnology as a critical enabler of the knowledge economy, with applications spanning healthcare, agriculture, industrial processing, and environmental management. It establishes the framework for developing domestic biotechnology research capacity, attracting global biotech companies, building manufacturing infrastructure, and creating a regulatory environment supportive of biotech innovation.
The strategy was catalysed in part by the COVID-19 pandemic, which exposed the UAE’s dependence on imported pharmaceuticals and medical supplies. The pandemic accelerated investment in local biopharmaceutical manufacturing capacity and reinforced the strategic case for building domestic capability in vaccine development, diagnostic technologies, and biologics production.
Biopharmaceutical Development
The biopharmaceutical pillar is the most advanced component of the strategy. Abu Dhabi’s Khalifa University and the Technology Innovation Institute have established research programmes in genomics, proteomics, and drug discovery. G42 Healthcare (now M42) has developed large-scale genome sequencing capacity, creating one of the largest population genomics databases in the Middle East. This data infrastructure supports precision medicine research and provides a foundation for clinical trials tailored to regional populations.
Manufacturing investment has followed research capacity. The establishment of biopharmaceutical production facilities in Abu Dhabi and Dubai aims to reduce the UAE’s reliance on imported medicines and position the country as a regional manufacturing hub for vaccines, biosimilars, and specialty biologics. The Hayat-Vax facility, established during the pandemic in partnership with Sinopharm, demonstrated the UAE’s ability to produce vaccines at scale, though the long-term commercial viability of domestic biopharmaceutical manufacturing remains dependent on regulatory harmonisation with international markets and sustained investment.
Agricultural and Industrial Biotechnology
Agricultural biotechnology is positioned as a strategic response to the UAE’s food security challenge. The National Food Security Strategy identifies domestic food production as a priority, and biotech applications — including genetically improved crop varieties adapted to arid conditions, vertical farming optimisation, and aquaculture innovation — offer pathways to increase yields within the constraints of limited water and arable land.
Industrial biotechnology applications include bioplastics, biofuels, enzyme production, and bio-based chemicals. These align with the National Circular Economy Policy and Net Zero 2050 by offering lower-carbon alternatives to petrochemical-derived products. While still at an early stage in the UAE, industrial biotech is positioned as a future growth area within the Operation 300bn industrial framework.
Regulatory and Talent Development
Building a competitive biotech sector requires a sophisticated regulatory infrastructure. The strategy includes provisions for developing biosafety regulations, clinical trial frameworks, intellectual property protections for biological innovations, and expedited approval pathways for biotech products. The UAE has engaged with international regulatory bodies to align its frameworks with global standards, facilitating cross-border research collaboration and product registration.
Talent development is the strategy’s most significant constraint. Biotechnology research requires deep specialist expertise that takes years to develop, and the UAE’s domestic talent pool in life sciences is limited. The strategy addresses this through targeted scholarship programmes, research fellowship schemes, and immigration pathways for international biotech researchers. Partnerships with leading global research institutions — including collaborations between Khalifa University and international biotech centres of excellence — provide knowledge transfer channels.
Strategic Position
The National Biotechnology Strategy positions the UAE to capture value from one of the twenty-first century’s most significant technology domains. Success depends on sustained investment over timelines longer than typical policy cycles, the development of a critical mass of scientific talent, and the willingness to accept that biotech ventures carry higher uncertainty and longer commercialisation timelines than the infrastructure and services investments that have driven the UAE’s economic diversification to date. The strategy represents a bet on the knowledge economy that will take a decade or more to evaluate fully.