During the Riyadh Global Medical Biotechnology Summit, held on January 25-26, 2023 and as part of the Pfizer Scientific Institute (PSI) plans in collaboration with the Local Content And Government Procurement Authority, Pfizer Saudi announced signing a collaboration agreement with King Abdullah International Medical Research Center (KAIMRC) at the Ministry of National Guard Health Affairs (MNGHA), the partnership is concerned with the execution of two vital projects.
The first project is aimed to support the upgrade of the Vaccine R&D and Manufacturing Lab, where Pfizer will provide support to enhance the capability of KAIMRC’s research center for preclinical and early clinical biopharmaceutical studies. Upon completion of the project, several benefits are expected, including creation of the platform, enhancement of the facilities, provision of clinical trials outcomes for different therapeutic areas, in addition to achieving potential alignment with national government institutes on development of vaccines.
The second project is aimed to support the creation of a Bank of Human iPS Cells, where Pfizer will provide support KAIMRC in setting up a human iPS cells bank facility intended to sell and distribute quality-controlled, disease relevant, research-grade IPS cell lines to local and international scientists, researchers and pharmaceutical companies to be used for research purposes. Among the project’s benefits is to facilitate access to Saudi patient’s iPS cells and their corresponding clinical and laboratory information, in addition, the project would be of great value to researchers around the world, who can potentially purchase these lines and use them for drug discovery research.
Commenting on the occasion, Dr. Hani Al-Hashmi, Pfizer Saudi Medical Director, stated that: “We are very happy to see such transformational projects between Pfizer and the local research industry in Saudi. It is expected that these projects in addition to its research value will potentially bring economic impact and new dimension that will support the knowledge economy and revitalization of vision 2030”
CEO of MNGHA, His Excellency Dr. Bandar Al Knawy affirmed that “The partnership with Pfizer will effectively contribute to enhancing the vaccine R&D and manufacturing capabilities at KAIMRC to benefit interested local stakeholders.”
