AstraZeneca has forged a strategic alliance with health technology firm M42 to advance preventive healthcare and precision medicine in the Middle East. The partnership entails leveraging M42’s expertise to assess patients’ genetic predisposition to breast cancer, facilitating tailored care and preemptive measures to thwart cancer onset. While the financial details remain undisclosed, the collaboration signals a concerted effort to pioneer personalized healthcare solutions.
Central to the initiative is the sequencing of genes associated with hereditary breast cancer at M42’s Omics Centre of Excellence. This endeavor specifically targets patients across the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Oman, Bahrain, and Qatar, aiming to enhance representation from non-Western demographics in clinical genomics research. The Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi stands as the inaugural institution to gather patient genomic data under this accord.
Peter Raouf, AstraZeneca’s Gulf Cooperation Council oncology business unit director, hailed the collaboration with M42 as a significant stride in advancing personalized precision medicine within cancer research. Echoing this sentiment, Fahed Al Marzooqi, M42’s deputy group chief operating officer, emphasized the program’s objective of enabling personalized cancer care, thereby fostering improved patient outcomes and championing preventive medicine.
Simultaneously, AstraZeneca has embarked on a precision medicine endeavor in Sweden, teaming up with Karolinska University Hospital and the Karolinska Institutet. This collaborative effort seeks to enhance patient access to bespoke prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up strategies, underscoring AstraZeneca’s commitment to pioneering innovative healthcare solutions on a global scale.