KSA needs biotech focus on health, manufacturing, localization 
In the race to build biotechnology ecosystems, activity is often mistaken for progress.
New startups are launched, memoranda of understanding are signed, and pilot programs are announced. Yet despite the volume of initiatives, many emerging markets struggle to translate momentum into sustainable biotech capability.
Saudi Arabia is not lacking ambition, what it must guard against is fragmentation. Biotech ecosystems are not built through the scale of announcements but through the depth of execution.
Successful global hubs are anchored by a limited number of strong platforms, entities with sufficient capital, governance, technical depth, and regulatory experience to survive long development cycles. These platforms create continuity, accumulate institutional knowledge, and form the backbone of sustainable growth.
Fragmentation dilutes all of this. When capital, talent, and regulatory attention are spread across too many early-stage initiatives, none receive the level of support required to reach maturity. The result is stalled pipelines, exhausted teams, and initiatives that quietly fade rather than fail loudly.
Platform thinking changes the equation.
“Biotech ecosystems are not built through the scale of announcements but through the depth of execution.”
Platforms are designed to do more than launch a single product. They integrate science, manufacturing, regulatory engagement, and market access. Infrastructure built for one program enables the next. Talent trained on one asset strengthens others. Regulatory experience compounds rather than resets.
Saudi Arabia has a unique opportunity to adopt this approach early. Rather than attempting to support every promising idea, the Kingdom can prioritize a smaller number of execution-ready platforms aligned with national priorities such as health security, advanced manufacturing, and strategic localization.
This requires discipline. Not every project should be funded. Not every startup should be scaled. Selectivity is not exclusion; it is strategy. Concentrated capital allows platforms to withstand inevitable setbacks without collapsing under short-term pressure.
Globally, the most successful biotech ecosystems learned this lesson early. They resisted the temptation to measure success by volume and instead focused on survivability and execution. As a result, they built companies that could attract global partners, retain talent, and generate long-term value.
Policy plays a critical role here. Clear mandates, consistent regulatory engagement, and long-term alignment between public and private capital enable platforms to operate with confidence. Biotech does not reward uncertainty in governance. It rewards clarity.
Saudi Arabia’s biotech future will not be determined by how many initiatives are announced, but by how many platforms endure. Depth beats breadth. Execution beats optics. Fewer, stronger platforms will achieve far more than a crowded field of under-resourced projects.
The challenge now is not to accelerate activity, but to refine focus. Biotech ecosystems mature through concentration, not dispersion. Saudi Arabia has the scale and coordination capability to lead with discipline, and that discipline will define its success.
• Huda Alfardus is a businesswoman and biotech investment expert focused on innovation, venture capital, and expanding women’s participation in business and investment markets.
