Reinforcing the growing significance of the UAE in global healthcare research, Insights Research Organization and Solutions (IROS) – the first-of-its-kind Contract Research Organization (CRO) in the UAE— has been launched, specializing in healthcare research and solutions that will cover all therapeutic areas.
Based in Abu Dhabi, IROS is born out of G42 Healthcare – a leading health-tech company on a mission to offer world-class healthcare in the UAE and beyond. IROS will harness real-world data and Artificial Intelligence to support internationally leading standards of scientific and ethical research, conduct clinical trials and reporting, alongside key solutions, and insights to expand and ensure access to and innovation of life-changing treatments.
The IROS debut marks a significant milestone in UAE’s growing prominence in the global healthcare research and development space, spurred on by the success of the country’s Phase III clinical trials for the development and testing of a COVID-19 vaccine.
The focus of IROS is to provide intelligent and high-quality solutions to help develop new drugs and medications by leveraging state-of-the-art research capabilities and groundbreaking technologies. This will invigorate the generation of revolutionary treatments to address pressing healthcare challenges of the present and the future.
Dr. Walid Zaher, CEO of IROS and Chief Research Officer at G42 Healthcare, said: “With the increasing incidence of chronic diseases, cancer, and haematological disorders that require life-saving drugs, the MENA region needs a sustainable and robust clinical research infrastructure. The UAE has an immense capacity for research and the substrate to develop a strong regulatory framework, which makes it an ideal location to build a CRO to service the needs of the region. With its surrounding population size and diversity in genetic profile and lifestyle, IROS has the perfect landscape to foster research and testing, leading to innovative new drugs and therapies.”
Commending the initiative, Dr. Asmaa Al Mannai, Executive Director, Research and Innovation, Department of Health, Abu Dhabi, said: “IROS will help enhance Abu Dhabi’s position as an incubator for innovation and scientific research, especially in the health sector that continues to evolve so that the emirate becomes one of the leading global destinations for those looking to work in the sector, visit for treatment purposes, or invest in healthcare.”
