Insilico Medicine unveils UAE’s first fully AI-discovered cancer drug candidate

UAE—Insilico Medicine has announced the development of the UAE’s first fully AI-discovered and developed drug candidate, marking a major step forward for the country’s pharmaceutical innovation landscape.

The milestone, achieved in collaboration with the Emirates Drug Establishment (EDE), highlights the UAE’s transition from adopting advanced technologies to actively using them to generate intellectual property and novel treatments.

The candidate, known as ISM0387, targets the PRMT5 enzyme and uses a synthetic lethality approach to attack tumours linked to MTAP gene deletion.

This mechanism allows the compound to selectively destroy cancer cells while limiting damage to healthy tissue, improving its therapeutic profile.

Promising results in preclinical studies
Researchers have reported encouraging results in preclinical studies, particularly in treating solid tumours such as aggressive brain cancers, which often resist conventional therapies.

Notably, ISM0387 demonstrates strong penetration of the blood–brain barrier, a key challenge in treating central nervous system diseases.

In addition, the compound showed clear, dose-dependent tumour suppression in animal models.

When administered at a daily dose of 30 mg/kg over 20 days, it significantly inhibited tumour growth.

These findings strengthen its potential as it moves toward clinical development and suggest broader applications in the treatment of neurological cancers.

AI Platform accelerates development timeline
The team developed ISM0387 using Insilico Medicine’s Chemistry42 platform, which integrates more than 40 generative AI models to analyse complex biological and chemical data.

Researchers completed the entire discovery process within the UAE, from identifying the biological target to designing, optimising, and selecting the final preclinical candidate.

This end-to-end workflow demonstrates the country’s growing ability to execute the full drug discovery pipeline locally while meeting international standards.

Moreover, the use of AI significantly reduced development timelines.

The team completed the discovery phase in about six months, testing over 90 molecules. Traditionally, this stage alone can take more than four years.

Furthermore, the entire process—from initial design to candidate selection—took less than 12 months.

In contrast, conventional drug development often exceeds 10 years and costs more than USD 1 billion to bring a single drug to market.

Strengthening the UAE’s biotech ecosystem
The programme reflects ongoing collaboration between Insilico Medicine and the Emirates Drug Establishment.

Through its regulatory frameworks, EDE has created a flexible environment that supports rapid innovation while maintaining safety and quality standards.

At the national level, the UAE continues to invest in biotechnology infrastructure and foster partnerships across research, regulatory, and investment sectors.

These coordinated efforts are helping build a competitive pharmaceutical ecosystem capable of delivering advanced therapies.

H.E. Saeed bin Mubarak Al Hajeri, Minister of State and Chairman of the Emirates Drug Establishment, said the achievement strengthens the UAE’s role in global biotech value chains.

He noted that the country is building knowledge-based capabilities that enable it to contribute actively to pharmaceutical innovation and expand its global footprint.

Leaders highlight impact of generative AI
H.E. Fatima Al Kaabi, Director General of the Emirates Drug Establishment, described the development as a clear indication of the country’s growing capacity to create medicines locally.

 She emphasised that advanced technologies are improving how discoveries are made by enabling faster and more accurate decisions while reducing both time and cost.

Meanwhile, Sheikha Al Mazrouei, Director of the Research and Laboratories Department at EDE, highlighted the role of generative models and reinforcement learning in analyzing biological, chemical, and clinical data.

She explained that these tools help design drug candidates with improved precision, safety, and effectiveness.

Alex Aliper, Co-founder and President of Insilico Medicine, added that the milestone demonstrates how generative AI can transform drug discovery by overcoming traditional bottlenecks and significantly shortening timelines.

He also noted that the UAE’s investment in research infrastructure enables the rapid development of high-quality therapeutic solutions.