TURNING SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERIES INTO COMMERCIAL SOLUTIONS

The Medical Biotechnology Park at KAIMRC offers solutions to commercialising academic research in Saudi Arabia.

Abdelali Haoudi, Managing Director of the Medical Biotechnology Park at KAIMRC, discusses the barriers and possible solutions to commercialising academic research in Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries

Innovations: Why do you feel Arab nations lag behind in converting promising research into commercial and clinical applications?

Haoudi: One reason is the lack of coherent national research and development strategies. The research is often more focused on the needs of education programmes. Those dedicated research centres or institutes that have been established are not really well equipped for translating research findings into products and solutions that can have a direct impact on society, health and the economy. Most of the universities in Arab countries lack active technology transfer offices, and their research findings end up being disseminated—and perhaps languishing—only in academic research

publications. We can see from the experience of other countries’ approaches that technology transfer offices play a critical role in supporting and guiding researchers towards patent filing and licensing deals.

Innovations: You are MD of the KAIMRC Medical Biotechnology Park, but are such science and technology parks relatively rare in Arab countries?

Haoudi: Yes, very few Arab countries possess truly dedicated science and technology parks or research incubators. We know these can play an extremely important role in the commercialisation of research findings and supporting start-up companies based on academic research.

Innovations: What is being done to address these problems?

Haoudi: Some countries, such as Saudi Arabia and Qatar, have recognised the importance of developing national strategies for R&D. There are increasing opportunities for R&D and commercialisation in many Arab countries.

Innovations: So is it mainly a question of national governmental policy that needs to be addressed?

Haoudi: The current government policies don’t usually go hand in hand with the setup of a thriving innovation and commercialisation ecosystem. The translation of academic research into commercial products needs to proceed through the creation of start-up companies to commercialise findings or through academic-commercial partnerships. But in most situations, government policies are not really permissive of this fast translation of research findings.

Innovations: So does this cause difficulties even for individual researchers with interesting results that could potentially be developed?

Haoudi: Yes. It is not clear how to obtain a commercial license to set up a start-up when the inventor or the entrepreneur is affiliated with an academic institution, and most of the time it is extremely difficult. At the same time, most of the academic institutions in Arab and developing countries are sponsored by the government and are not often well equipped to accommodate the entrepreneurial requirements needed to establish start-up companies. There are also still a lot of policy gaps in some of these countries. For example, in order to translate research findings in the health sector, it is necessary to go through clinical trials to test the safety and efficacy of novel products, but in some countries, there are no laws or policies to support and govern the conduct of clinical trials. This can present a tremendous handicap towards developing a thriving health economy.

Innovations: Is funding for researchbased start-ups also hard to find?

Haoudi: Yes, in most Arab and developing countries, less than 1% of overall government spending goes to R&D. Start-up companies resulting from innovative research need funding to be able to develop their research findings into products or solutions. There are few or no opportunities from angel investors,

KAIMRC’s Dr. Abdelali Haoudi is confident there are increasing opportunities for R&D and commercialisation in many Arab countries. venture capital, research foundations, or other private sources of funding. This poses a serious limitation to these companies, preventing most of them from growing and having an impact on economic development.

Innovations: What are the best ways to tackle these problems?

Haoudi: Given the scarcity of research funding in Arab and developing countries, the most promising way forward is to plan science and technology clusters or parks for start-up companies, with shared enabling platforms and shared support services. This will allow these fledgling companies to save tremendous costs in initial investment and optimize their resources towards better outcomes. Arab and developing countries should also focus their R&D strategies on research targeting critical and urgent challenges facing them. R&D is very costly, especially in areas such as health, energy and the environment. It’s time to focus on forging collaborations and partnerships, in particular public-private partnerships, in order to translate results from public research institutions into impactful outcomes. There are tremendous opportunities for regional and global R&D collaborations and partnerships.

Innovations: Are you hopeful that the situation will soon improve?

Haoudi: I am hopeful that the situation will improve for some countries, such as Saudi Arabia, Morocco, and possibly others. These countries in particular have recognised the importance of developing and investing in all facets of the R&D continuum. A successful R&D enterprise represents an integrated ecosystem with multiple factors to ensure a successful economic impact, with a sound vision and strategy, sufficient and sustainable funding support, talented personnel, supportive regulatory frameworks, strong public-private partnerships, and true visionary leadership.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.