Abu Dhabi's agreement with pharmaceutical giant GSK is a “big scientific step forward” in genomic research and medicine, the company's chairman told The National at Abu Dhabi Global Health Week.
The collaboration between the Department of Health Abu Dhabi, the Abu Dhabi Investment Office and GSK aims to diversify global representation in genomic research to improve patient outcomes, most notably in the fight against cancer.
By combining data from studies of different biological matter such as genes, RNA, proteins and metabolites, scientists can gain a more complete view of life processes and improve insights into health and disease.
“I don’t think we’ve got anything similar in our network, although we do it in the US, we do it in the UK, but not in the same collaborative approach. So I think it’s quite unique,” Sir Jonathan Symonds said.
He said Abu Dhabi’s decision to sequence its entire population has made it possible to conduct large-scale, cost-effective genetic analysis. “Twenty years ago, sequencing a single human genome was prohibitively expensive, about $1,000 per genome, making it impossible to do at scale. Abu Dhabi took a really, really bold step by wanting to sequence the whole population, which facilitated very cost-effective sequencing,” Sir Jonathan said.
“You’ve got the three billion pairs of letters in a single genome, and we now have the mathematics and the analytics to be able to identify very small errors or changes or mutations on that genome that we can now track back,” he added. “Cancer is the obvious one, which is a genetic mutation, and you can identify the sources and potentially the future pathways of cancer, so you know how to treat it effectively. Similar can be said of many rare diseases and genetic disorders.”
Why is the collaboration unique?
Sir Jonathan said the ability to go beyond genomics into areas such as proteomics (the study of proteins) and metabolomics (the study of small molecules) is what makes the current work in the UAE so significant. To complement Abu Dhabi's genomic sequencing, GSK will be contributing its labs, expertise and research capabilities.
“This is what is unique about this collaboration, because you’ve got so many sequences, you can actually now go deeper and deeper and deeper to understand the cellular specifics at a patient level or disease level. It is really a big step. It’s a big scientific step forward,” he said. “We’re beginning a journey together on understanding the genome at a subcellular level.”
The importance of vaccines
Another major area of focus is vaccine distribution and part of this collaboration is an agreement that GSK's vaccines can be stored in Etihad and PureHealth warehousing. The collaboration is expected to reduce logistical costs of storing and distributing vaccines.
“Vaccination,” Sir Jonathan said, “has been proven for a very long time to be the most effective form of medical treatment because it doesn’t deal with symptoms. It deals with eradication and long-term prevention. And, of course, one of the consequences that you see of the huge traffic flow through the region, both from commercial and tourism and religious reasons, is a high incidence of infectious disease. So I think there is a very strong case for vaccination of everybody in the region, because a pathogen doesn’t differentiate between who it’s going to pass it on to.”
Longevity: a new era of health?
Sir Jonathan also addressed the growing focus on longevity and what it means in a practical sense, describing it as the “beginning of a new dialogue”.
“This is where health-span matters so much. So if on average lifespan is 83 years, and health-span is, let’s say, 73 years, what it means is that gap between 73 and 83, the last 10 years of your life, is it where you’re living in full health? Or are you not able to actively or cognitively contribute to the economy, science, or society, as you wish?”
“It’s also the time where the cost to the healthcare system is so much greater,” he added. “So the idea on healthy longevity is to extend health-span, not necessarily lifespan. If you increase lifespan, we keep a lot of really sick people alive with virtually no quality of life. I would never, ever wish to shorten anybody’s life. But I think most of us would sign up to living more productively, living more actively than living longer.”
He said therapies for cancer, obesity and preventive vaccines are already extending lives but early intervention is key. “I think where we have to change the discussion is not waiting until we deliver therapies when people are sick, but identifying when they need them – maybe in their 30s, 40s or 50s, as opposed to their 60s, 70s and 80s, when it’s too late.”
The UAE as a world leader
Sir Jonathan said he sees the UAE, and the Middle East region in general, as having “the potential of being the model healthcare system” largely due to work on genomic sequencing and the emphasis on longevity. He said this focus on health-span, lifespan, prevention, early detection, sequencing, genomics, analytics, and AI amounts to a “completely different language” to what he hears outside the region.
“I think in a relatively short space of time, the quality of diagnosis in this country and this region could be the best in the world because of the application of advanced science and technology,” Sir Jonathan said.
Vaccination hub
The opening day of the health week in Abu Dhabi saw the inauguration of a GSK vaccination hub which was witnessed by Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi. Sheikh Khaled commended efforts to establish a network of specialised centres for vaccine distribution and to support essential immunisation programmes aimed at safeguarding community health, reported the emirate's media office.
He added the establishment of specialised distribution centres would help ensure vaccine access to all members of society and strengthen public health systems and enhance community-level disease prevention locally, regionally and globally.
“The inauguration of our vaccine distribution hub in Abu Dhabi is a key link in the global vaccine value chain,” said Sir Jonathan. “By merging our scientific expertise with Abu Dhabi’s logistical excellence and the strategic vision of the Department of Health – Abu Dhabi, this hub will improve access to essential vaccines.”
Abu Dhabi Global Health Week – in pictures
