The ongoing Covid-19 pandemic has driven significant new investment into pioneering medical research, and an initial broadly applied global response has begun to shift towards more targeted treatments across specific populations.

As the Middle East’s first and only event dedicated to precision medicine, the PrecisionMed Exhibition & Summit, held on May 24 and 25 in Dubai, brings an unprecedented regional focus on the fast-evolving world of personalised medicine.

It offers an unrivalled opportunity for healthcare providers, researchers, public sector buyers and influencers from across this ecosystem in the GCC to catch up on the latest developments, opportunities and outcomes within this dynamic area of disease prevention, diagnostics and treatment.

“We are excited to bring an unparalleled line-up of distinguished speakers to the Middle East to focus on how scientific advances significantly impact human health,” says event director David Stradling. “This comes at a time when governments in the region are concentrated more than ever on improving healthcare systems for their populations and seeking to optimise healthcare outcomes and costs.”

According to research and markets, funding for precision medicine saw a sharp uptick in 2020 to help address the challenges of Covid-19. It forecasts significant growth across the sector as the pandemic has highlighted the need for urgent, effective treatments and accurate diagnostic tools.

Precision medicine is a fast-growing area – the market is estimated to reach about US$126 billion in value by the year 2025, a compound annual growth rate of 12.48% between 2017 and 2025, according to Market Research Future.

The field allows doctors and researchers to predict more accurately which treatment and prevention strategies for a particular disease will work in which groups of people. It is in contrast to a one-size-fits-all approach, in which disease treatment and prevention strategies are developed for the average person, with less consideration for the differences between individuals.

The evolving world of personalised medicine includes biomarkers, targeted therapies and the integration of patient health data to translate scientific advances into human health. Precision health solutions have gained wide traction in cancer genomics and targeted cancer therapies and now include a wide range of diagnostics and treatments for rare and common diseases.

The PrecisionMed Exhibition & Summit exciting agenda will focus on several ground-breaking areas, from how AI and machine learning is directing oncology treatments to the lessons learned from Covid 19 – specifically in the areas of rare diseases, diabetes, pharmacogenomics – also the impact of precision medicine on paediatric health.

It includes a keynote address on the status of the rollout of precision medicine in the Gulf by Hinda Daggag, who heads the Corporate Genetic Project, Corporate Medical & Clinical Affairs, at Abu Dhabi Health Services Company (SEHA).

Also keynoting is Howard Jacob, vice president of Genomics Research and Head of Data Integrations at AbbVie, who will discuss leveraging data from individuals to populations for accelerated drug discovery and development.

On day two, Robert Green, a medical geneticist and physician-scientist who directs the G2P Research Program at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, will discuss genome sequencing and preventive screening in newborns. At the same time, Khalid Fakhro, chief research officer at Sidra Medicine, will look at the promise of precision medicine for rare diseases.

Alongside the two-day summit, the event exhibition, which includes exhibitors from 25 participating countries, will allow attendees to discover new market innovations driving the future of precision medicine.

To find out more about the exciting PrecisionMed Exhibition & Summit