Abu Dhabi Team Aims to Revolutionize Cancer Treatment with AI Drug Discovery

Updated June 08, 2025

An Abu Dhabi-based team⁢ is employing artificial⁢ intelligence to accelerate cancer treatment discovery. The initiative seeks to identify promising cancer targets,design new molecules,and prepare a comprehensive preclinical data ⁤package within 18 months. This timeline is significantly shorter than⁣ the typical three to⁤ five years ⁢and substantial costs associated with conventional pharmaceutical development.

Alex Zhavoronkov, ⁤founder and CEO‍ of Insilico Medicine, said their Masdar City ⁤center already hosts around 60 AI and biotech specialists. He added that by tasking four⁤ of them with a complete end-to-end discovery run, they aim to prove that any GCC nation equipped with cloud compute, wet-lab automation and local talent can create world-class therapeutics.

The project serves as both a scientific experiment and a geopolitical statement, potentially reshaping the Middle East’s position in global pharmaceutical innovation and challenging conventional beliefs about⁢ where and how drug discovery can occur in the AI era. The ⁣team consists of two computational chemists, one medicinal chemist,‍ and one translational biologist, working with Insilico’s Pharma.AI system. They are focused on “medium-novelty and genetically validated synthetic-lethality targets” for solid tumors, seeking ways ⁣to kill cancer cells by‍ exploiting specific genetic vulnerabilities.

The team’s roadmap aims to finalize a biological target by the third quarter of 2025,generate molecular structures in under a month,and complete the preclinical package within ‍18 months. Zhavoronkov explained that while humans still design strategy and verify ‍results,AI handles the brute-force search,learns from experiments,and avoids dead ends.

Zhavoronkov said the UAE ⁤was chosen as Insilico already has a base there, referring‍ to the AI research and Development center opened in Masdar City in 2023 with support from the ⁣Abu Dhabi Investment Office. He noted that while UAE scientists have contributed to drug discovery, they have not fully controlled a drug discovery program.

This self-funded initiative aims to demonstrate that any country with sufficient computing resources and specialists can develop ⁢life-saving medications.Insilico’s approach builds on research dating back to 2016, exploring how generative adversarial networks (GANs) could design novel molecules.

Zhavoronkov addressed ⁢skepticism about AI ‍in biotech,stating that since 2021,Insilico has nominated 22 development ⁤candidates,advanced 10 into clinical‍ trials,and completed four ⁤Phase I trials and a Phase‍ IIa trial without⁢ clinical failure. He attributed Insilico’s success to well-curated data, a closed experimental loop, integration of AI⁤ engineers,⁤ biologists, and chemists, and experimentally validated AI models.

“Humans still design ⁢strategy and‍ verify results, but AI handles the brute-force search, learns ⁢from every experiment in real time, and ⁣steers us away ⁣from dead ends,” said Zhavoronkov.

Insilico’s lead drug,Rentosertib,showed positive ‍results ⁣in a Phase IIa trial for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. A⁤ Nature Biotechnology paper detailed Rentosertib’s journey from⁢ AI algorithms to clinical trials. Zhavoronkov believes their approach can extend beyond a single disease area, spanning oncology, fibrosis, CNS‍ disorders, and chronic kidney disease.

What’s next

Insilico is planning to expand⁤ across the Gulf region, with plans to establish an operation in Riyadh by 2026 and⁢ discussions underway ⁤with other countries about potential expansion. zhavoronkov envisions multiple AI-originated drugs approved and on pharmacy shelves, with new candidates entering the clinic every year.