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• Strategic Positioning: Saudi Arabia is advancing a national biotechnology push through major conferences, international partnerships and local CAR-T manufacturing to drive diversification.
• Structural Risks: The sector faces regulatory complexity, high research and manufacturing costs, talent shortages and significant clinical uncertainties.
• Risk-Reward Profile: Biotechnology offers strong long term potential but remains a high risk industry with considerable uncertainty and scope for failure.
Biotechnology is becoming a major venture capital magnet. Although AI remains the top pick for investors, biotechnology ranks second, making it an appealing investment area with strong room for growth. In Q3 2025, global VC investment into biotechnology reached $3.1 billion, a huge 70.9 percent increase from the previous quarter.
This growth was heavily driven by a rise in Series D funding. This stage usually signals that a startup has reached a level of maturity that prepares it for major milestones such as acquisitions, an IPO, market expansion, and scaling. For biotechnology companies, Series D growth is particularly meaningful because it often reflects proven efficacy and reduced scientific uncertainty, with human clinical data typically available at this stage.
Venture capitalists are also placing greater emphasis on financial stability for biotechnology startups, reducing the need for constant fundraising and allowing founders to focus more on R&D and long-term projects.
However, uncertainties remain for biotechnology venture capital investment. These include rigorous regulations by bodies such as the USA's FDA, lengthy and costly development timelines, market saturation with similar start-ups, and the difficulty of assigning realistic valuations when clinical trial outcomes and regulatory approvals are unpredictable.
Biotechnology is a high-risk but highly rewarding industry, which is why Saudi Arabia is aggressively pursuing its ambition to join the leading nations as an influential powerhouse in the global biotechnology landscape.
In January 2024, Saudi Arabia released its National Biotechnology Strategy, stating its ambitious aspirations for the next 16 years. By 2030, Saudi Arabia aims to position itself as the leader in biotechnology hubs in the M.E.N.A. (Middle East and North Africa) region.
This would result in Saudi Arabia having the largest concentration of biotechnology companies, research centres, and clinical trial centres in the M.E.N.A. The strategy also looks to add 11,000 job opportunities and contribute 3% ($34.6 billion) to the non-oil GDP.
By 2040, Saudi Arabia aims to scale its presence and position itself as one of the leading biotechnology hubs globally, competing against the US, the UK and France, which have been well-established biotech hubs for 20+ years.
Saudi Arabia hosted the BIO International Convention this year, where it established confidence in the future results of its National Biotechnology Strategy. The Kingdom successfully concluded its debut by signing more than a dozen partnerships, positioning itself as a hub for life sciences and launching an acceleration programme with Biolabs. Hosting the conference allowed Saudi Arabia to showcase its strong commitment to biotechnology and healthcare innovation.
Furthermore, Saudi Arabia’s move to locally produce CAR T cells, genetically modified white blood cells designed to target and destroy cancer, is a highly strategic and rewarding step for their growth as a biotechnology presence. CAR T therapies are tailored to each patient, and importing the treatments can cost £300,000 to £400,000. Being able to create their own CAR T cells allows Saudi Arabia to access the treatment faster, removes reliance on foreign provision, and can cut costs dramatically for both hospitals and consumers. By 2030, Saudi Arabia hopes to meet 9 percent of national demand for gene and cell therapy, saving around £1.58 billion.
In conclusion, Saudi Arabia’s move to contribute to biotechnology innovations and its aspiration to become a leading biotechnology hub is part of the Kingdom’s strategy to diversify away from oil, expand its job market, and secure quicker access to advanced treatments. Whilst venture capital creates a favourable funding environment, success will depend on Saudi Arabia’s ability to manage the risks that come with biotechnology, including complex research, manufacturing, and tight regulations surrounding clinical trials.