Abu Dhabi firm CoreX recruits Emiratis to close drug efficacy gap through precision prescriptions

Abu Dhabi–based bio-intelligence company CoreX is recruiting Emiratis to help develop what it calls “precision prescriptions” as part of efforts to address gaps in drug safety and effectiveness among Middle Eastern populations that are underrepresented in global clinical trials.

The company, described as a sovereign bio-intelligence engine, combines living human cells with a proprietary artificial intelligence system known as Ouris-AI. The technology is designed to analyze how different human bodies respond to medications, with the aim of predicting drug efficacy and preventing adverse drug reactions (ADRs).

Currently, most medicines and clinical guidelines are developed using data largely derived from Western populations, limiting their accuracy for other ethnic groups. An analysis by the US Food and Drug Administration in 2020 showed that of more than 292,000 participants in global clinical trials, 76 percent were white, while just 11 percent were Asian and 7 percent were Black.

Genetic variations linked to ethnicity can significantly influence how drugs are metabolized, absorbed, distributed, or excreted, according to a 2025 study by Jordan University of Science and Technology. As a result, even commonly used medications such as paracetamol may have different effects in Middle Eastern populations compared to what is stated in standard medical guidelines.

Research published in Nature has also highlighted the lack of diversity in genetic studies for diseases such as Alzheimer’s and type 2 diabetes. Between 2000 and 2009, people of European ancestry accounted for 96 percent of participants in such studies, a figure that dropped to 81 percent by 2016. Arabs and people of Middle Eastern descent, however, represented just 0.08 percent.

CoreX is not a clinical service provider and does not replace traditional clinical trials or regulatory processes. Instead, it works with institutions such as the Institute for Healthier Living Abu Dhabi and the Department of Health to generate data-driven recommendations for drug development.

“Anyone willing to donate their blood will go into what we call a population biobank,” said Sarah Miller, co-founder and president of CoreX. “If we have 50 samples from one demographic, that’s enough for us to start making very accurate assumptions about how certain drugs will behave.”

The initial Emirati cohort of 50 participants was filled within days, and the company plans to continue expanding its sample pool. Each new drug analyzed through the system adds hundreds more samples, raising capacity challenges as interest grows.

ADRs remain a major global health burden. The World Health Organization estimates that 5 to 10 percent of hospital admissions in high- and middle-income countries are linked to adverse drug reactions, while up to 20 percent of hospitalized patients experience at least one ADR. Medication-related harm is estimated to cost health systems about $42 billion annually.

In the UAE context, even low single-digit ADR rates could translate into tens of thousands of preventable adverse events each year, costing hundreds of millions of dollars in hospital treatment alone.

Ms. Miller said CoreX’s technology could significantly reduce the time and cost of drug development by identifying failures early. “It currently takes around 10 years and up to $1 billion to take a drug from molecule to market, and nine out of 10 fail,” she said. “If we can predict success or failure early with a high degree of confidence, we can potentially cut that timeline in half.”

CoreX plans to expand its research beyond the UAE to the wider Arab world within the next two years, before eventually incorporating data from additional global populations.

“What we are building is broad representation across demographics,” Ms. Miller said. “That’s how medicine becomes safer, more effective, and truly global.”