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King Abdullah International Medical Research Center (KAIMRC), the largest medical research institution in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and Flagship Pioneering, a scientific innovation engine for transformative platforms and products based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, have announced a strategic partnership to conduct clinical trials of novel medicines in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA).
The partnership will help advance transformative new medicines globally by partnering American innovation with state-of-the art clinical trial infrastructure in KSA. The agreement was announced as part of the US-Saudi Investment Forum in Washington, DC.
Under the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), KAIMRC and Flagship intend to establish a framework for clinical development to conduct early-phase trials in Saudi Arabia of multiple novel medicines from Flagship-founded companies. The collaboration will enable Flagship and its companies access to support from state-of-the-art facilities at KAIMRC, the Ministry of National Guard Health Affairs (MNGHA), and King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences (KSAU-HS), including advanced patient care units and clinical laboratories.
The partnership will initially focus on three Phase 1 programmes and one Phase 2 programme from three Flagship-founded companies focused on genetic diseases, with the potential to expand to additional programs over time. Participating studies are expected to enable global Phase 1 and 2 clinical trials of medicines targeting multiple genetic diseases with high unmet medical need – particularly those of significant relevance to patients in KSA – requiring innovative and novel therapeutic approaches.
Under this collaboration, investors from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia will collectively commit an initial investment of $70M (equivalent to approximately SAR 262.5 million) to the US-based participating companies.
