ABU DHABI (ALETIHAD)
Abu Dhabi Biobank, a strategic initiative between the Department of Health – Abu Dhabi (DoH) and M42, has entered into a collaboration with AstraZeneca to advance predictive healthcare.
Announced during the Abu Dhabi Future Health Summit 2026 the collaboration will integrate biological samples, genomics, clinical data and artificial intelligence to enable earlier disease detection, advance rare disease research, and strengthen precision healthcare for populations historically underrepresented globally.
Healthcare systems worldwide are seeking more effective ways to predict, prevent and manage disease.
At the same time, Middle Eastern populations remain underrepresented in global biomedical research.
The collaboration positions Abu Dhabi at the forefront of a new model for healthcare innovation, drawing on Abu Dhabi Biobanks capabilities, genomics, clinical data, and artificial intelligence to generate actionable insights, close critical evidence gaps, and produce findings that are more representative of the populations they are intended to serve.
The initiative will advance rare disease research through the integration of genomic, clinical and phenotypic data, helping address conditions that often remain undiagnosed for years and creating opportunities for earlier identification of individuals who may benefit from timely evaluation and care.
The initiative will also assess the applicability of MILTON, AstraZeneca's advanced AI-powered disease prediction platform, with a focus on Type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease, which represent a significant and growing health burden globally and regionally.
MILTON is designed to use routinely collected health data to identify patterns associated with future disease risk, creating opportunities for earlier intervention and more proactive care across range of diseases.
This initiative will evaluate MILTON’s applicability in regional populations, helping ensure future healthcare innovations are relevant, effective and reflective of local population characteristics.
At the centre of the collaboration is Abu Dhabi Biobank, which serves as a discovery engine for healthcare innovation.
It connects more than 5 million biological samples, genomic information from the national Emirati Genome Program, longitudinal clinical records and population health data in a single ecosystem.
This integrated approach enables researchers to generate insights that isolated datasets cannot provide.
It creates a richer understanding of disease across the patient journey, from genetic risk through to clinical outcomes and accelerates the translation of research into real-world impact.
Chief Executive Officer of Integrated Health Solutions at M42, Dr Fahed Al Marzooqi, said, "Healthcare is entering a new era in which data can help us identify risk long before disease becomes clinically apparent. Abu Dhabi Biobank was built to be more than a repository of biological samples; it is an enabler that brings together biology, genomics and clinical insight at scale, to generate knowledge that was previously beyond reach. This will help advance predictive science, evaluate next-generation technologies such as MILTON and shape deeper understanding of human health and more precise healthcare interventions for future generations."
For rare diseases, connecting genomic signals with real-world clinical information will help researchers better understand disease pathways.
It will support earlier identification of at-risk individuals and accelerate the development of future diagnostic and therapeutic approaches.
Emerging AI-driven prediction capabilities offer the potential to identify disease risk before symptoms appear.
This could reshape how healthcare systems approach prevention and intervention.
Together, these initiatives reflect a shared ambition to move healthcare beyond treating disease towards earlier prediction, detection and intervention.
VP Center of Genomic Research, AstraZeneca, Slavé Petrovski, said, “This collaboration will support the creation of high-quality, UAE-specific evidence that can help inform national health policy and strengthen clinical decision-making to improve patient outcomes. Working with M42, we will apply advanced analytics and genomics, including AstraZeneca’s advanced MILTON model, to enable earlier identification of population health risk and the development of strategies to improve health outcomes in the UAE.”
The collaboration reflects a shared belief that the future of healthcare will be defined by our ability to predict, understand and respond to disease earlier.
Healthcare systems worldwide are seeking ways to move beyond treating disease towards anticipating it.
The collaboration combines novel, complementary, innovative approaches under a shared ambition to identify diseases earlier and predict future disease risk before symptoms emerge.
It reflects the nation’s vision of longer, healthier lives enabled by an intelligent healthcare system that delivers preventive and personalised care at scale.