An MoU links a UAE cancer-drug manufacturer, M42's contract research arm and Glenmark. It starts with secondary packaging and a planned antibody-drug conjugate registration, and that sequence tells oncology teams what to research next.
ADCAN Pharma, the Abu Dhabi company that calls itself the UAE's only manufacturer of oncology and hormone medicines, has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Abu Dhabi health group M42 to explore cancer-drug manufacturing and clinical research together, the state news agency WAM reported on 9 November 2026.
The deal has three moving parts. The two companies will explore contract manufacturing work through India's Glenmark Pharmaceuticals, starting with secondary packaging for export. They then plan to help register an antibody-drug conjugate (ADC), a targeted cancer therapy, in the UAE. And ADCAN will support clinical trials run by IROS, M42's contract research organisation (CRO).
It is an MoU, so the words that matter are "explore" and "may". No product, value, timeline or volume was disclosed. But the order of the steps is revealing, and for anyone planning an oncology launch, a trial or a supply strategy in the Gulf, it points to the questions worth answering now.
What was actually agreed
The announcement, carried by WAM and in a fuller ADCAN press release on Zawya, sets out a staged plan.
Stage one: packaging and export supply. The companies "will explore contract development and manufacturing organisation (CDMO) opportunities through Glenmark Pharmaceuticals". A CDMO develops, makes or packs medicines on behalf of another drug company. The initial focus is "secondary packaging", which the release defines as preparing finished medicines "in the labelling and packs required for each market", plus "export-orientated pharmaceutical supply."
A quality audit is done. Glenmark "has completed a quality audit of ADCAN Pharma's manufacturing facility", which the release calls an important step toward the next stage. An audit is a gate, not a contract. Nothing in the announcement says a supply agreement has been signed.
Stage two: an ADC registration. The next phase "will focus on facilitating the UAE registration of an advanced oncology product based on an antibody-drug conjugate". The release explains that an ADC "links an antibody to a cancer-killing drug, designed to deliver treatment directly to cancer cells." It adds that "batch release for key export markets may follow, subject to applicable regulatory requirements and approvals." Batch release is the formal quality sign-off that lets a finished batch of medicine be sold in a given market.
Stage three, in parallel: clinical trials. ADCAN "will also support clinical trial activities led by IROS, M42's contract research organisation." The release does not say which trials, which diseases or how many patients.
The MoU was signed at the Abu Dhabi Future Health Summit 2026 by Dr Fokion Sinis, ADCAN's chief executive, and Dr David Kavanagh, acting chief operating officer of M42's Integrated Health Solutions platform. The summit ran at ADNEC from 20 to 22 October. The formal announcement followed on 9 November, but the partnership was already public: in an interview with Sinis published on 28 October, Gulf News reported that ADCAN had become a local manufacturing partner for M42, "initially focusing on cancer medicines intended for international export in cooperation with Glenmark."
What the companies said
ADCAN chairman Hamdan Mohamed AlDahmani called the partnership "an important step in developing advanced pharmaceutical manufacturing capabilities in the UAE and strengthening the sector's competitiveness in regional and international markets."
Sinis framed it around specialisation: "By focusing on specialised oncology products and drawing on our local manufacturing capabilities and our partners' expertise, we aim to expand our business and open up new opportunities across global pharmaceutical supply chains."
Kavanagh made the research case: "Turning scientific discovery into treatments for patients depends on clinical research and pharmaceutical manufacturing working closely together. Through IROS, M42 is building the clinical research capabilities that help position Abu Dhabi as a partner for companies developing advanced therapies."
Who the three companies are
ADCAN Pharma. According to its own company profile in the release, ADCAN was established in 2013, is headquartered in Industrial City of Abu Dhabi (ICAD III) and runs three facilities. It describes itself as "the first and only manufacturer of oncology and hormone products in the United Arab Emirates", with annual capacity of 500 million tablets and 80 million capsules, and is part of the IHC (International Holding Company) group. Its portfolio spans oncology, hormones, cardiology, diabetes, gastroenterology and infectious diseases.
The oncology capability is recent. When ADCAN's first plant opened in February 2023, the company said its second facility would make "certain cancer and highly potent drugs" and would be the first of its kind in the UAE. The federal Minister of State for Foreign Trade, who chairs the Emirates Drug Establishment (EDE) board, launched that oncology and hormone phase in April 2025, according to the Abu Dhabi daily Al Ittihad.
ADCAN has been busy since. On 20 October 2026 it announced a framework with MS Pharma for local manufacturing, packaging, testing and batch release of biosimilars, injectables and oral solid medicines in the UAE, including a UAE laboratory able to run the full quality testing required for monoclonal antibodies. Sinis also told Gulf News that ADCAN expects European Union Good Manufacturing Practice (EU-GMP) certification in 2027.
M42. M42 was formed in 2023 when G42 Healthcare and Mubadala Health came together. It says it has more than 480 facilities in 27 countries and over 20,000 employees. Its assets include Danat Al Emarat, Diaverum, Imperial College London Diabetes Centre, Sheikh Sultan bin Zayed Hospital and Moorfields Eye Hospital Abu Dhabi. It runs the Emirati Genome Programme, the Abu Dhabi BioBank and Abu Dhabi Health Data Services, which operates Malaffi, the emirate's health information exchange.
IROS. IROS (Insights Research Organization and Solutions) is M42's Abu Dhabi CRO. It offers regulatory affairs, clinical operations, data management, quality assurance and real-world evidence services. Recent IROS work includes a planned oncology trial with BioSapien in lower gastrointestinal cancers, the UAE's first genomics-driven Alzheimer's prevention trial with Halia Therapeutics and the DoH, and, announced on 28 October 2026, what M42 calls the UAE's first trial of a lipid nanoparticle gene-editing therapy, with Mammoth Biosciences.
Glenmark. Glenmark is a Mumbai-listed drugmaker with 11 manufacturing facilities on four continents and a commercial footprint in more than 80 countries. It names respiratory, dermatology and oncology as its focus areas. In its second-quarter results on 5 November 2026, chairman Glenn Saldanha said its "partnered innovative oncology pipeline is advancing toward commercialization with the first launch expected by the end of FY27", which for Glenmark means by 31 March 2027.
Which ADC? The release does not say
The single most important unknown is the product. The announcement does not name the ADC, its target, its cancer type or its originator.
There is one obvious candidate in the public record, and it should be treated as a candidate only. In September 2025, Glenmark in-licensed trastuzumab rezetecan (SHR-A1811), a HER2-targeted ADC, from China's Hengrui Pharma. Glenmark paid $18 million upfront, with up to $1.093 billion in regulatory and commercial milestones plus royalties. Its rights cover the world except mainland China, Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan, the US, Canada, Europe, Japan, Russia and several Central Asian and Eastern European states. The Middle East, including the UAE, is therefore inside Glenmark's territory.
The drug was approved in China in May 2025 for previously treated HER2-mutant non-small cell lung cancer, and Glenmark reports a later Chinese approval in second-line HER2-positive breast cancer. As of September 2026, Glenmark said it had filed marketing applications for trastuzumab rezetecan in two markets, without naming them, and had started a Phase 3 trial in platinum-resistant ovarian cancer in India.
None of the three companies has said that this is the ADC in the MoU. Glenmark's other disclosed partnered oncology products, such as envafolimab and aumolertinib, are not ADCs. So the link is plausible, not confirmed, and we will not assume it.
My take: the sequence is the story
It is tempting to read "advanced oncology drug manufacturing" and picture ADCs being made in Abu Dhabi. That is not what the release says, and the difference matters.
ADCs are injectable biologics. Making one involves producing a monoclonal antibody, a highly potent cytotoxic payload and a chemical linker, then joining them under strict containment. ADCAN's stated capacity is for tablets and capsules. The first stage of this deal is secondary packaging: putting finished product into market-specific packs and labels. The second is regulatory: helping register an ADC in the UAE. Batch release for export "may follow".
That is a sensible order. Secondary packaging and batch release are where a local site can add value fast, because they are what ties a product to a specific country's label, language and regulator. They also build the quality track record that a full manufacturing partnership would later require. ADCAN's planned monoclonal antibody testing laboratory under the MS Pharma deal, and its EU-GMP target for 2027, point the same way.
The real issue, in my view, is not whether the UAE will make ADCs from scratch soon. It is whether locally packed and released oncology products will reach UAE and GCC patients faster, more reliably or at a different price than imported ones. Nobody has published evidence on that yet.
Why oncology, and why the UAE
The disease burden explains part of the interest. IARC's GLOBOCAN 2024 estimates for the UAE show 8,815 new cancer cases and 3,814 cancer deaths in 2024, with 29,704 people living within five years of a cancer diagnosis. Breast, colorectal and thyroid cancer are the most common cancers by new cases. Breast, colorectal and lung cancer cause the most deaths. Breast cancer is also the main area where HER2-targeted therapy is used.
Those numbers are small compared with large markets, which is why export matters in every statement about this deal. A UAE plant built only for UAE oncology volumes would struggle. A plant that packs and releases product for several markets is a different business.
The regulatory system has also changed. In January 2026 the Ministry of Health and Prevention transferred about 44 regulatory services, including medicine registration and pricing, to the EDE, the federal regulator created by decree in 2023. One regulator now sits over registration, pricing and manufacturing licences. Our analysis of UAE drug pricing after the EDE takeover covers what that means for launch files, and our earlier Foundayo UAE approval analysis shows how quickly the EDE can move when it wants to be early.
The clinical trial angle
The research leg may matter more in the long run than the packaging leg.
Abu Dhabi is pushing hard to host global trials. On 27 October 2026, the Department of Health Abu Dhabi (DoH) and Novartis announced the activation of an "Abu Dhabi Clinical Trials Hub" through Novartis global Phase 3 programmes in neuroscience, cardiovascular disease, oncology and immunology. In an earlier release, M42 said the UAE's clinical trials ecosystem had grown by 40% since 2020. That is M42's own figure, and we could not find the underlying dataset.
What the ADCAN link could add is a manufacturing and packaging partner close to trial sites. Clinical trial supply means labelling, packing and releasing investigational product for specific studies, and it is often the slowest part of starting a trial in a new country. The release does not say ADCAN will handle trial supply. It only says ADCAN "will support clinical trial activities led by IROS". If it does turn out to mean local trial supply, that would be a practical advantage for sponsors considering UAE sites. For background, see our GCC clinical trials market overview.
What is still not known
Before anyone builds a forecast or a sourcing plan on this MoU, here is what the public record does not say:
- The product. No ADC name, target, indication or originator.
- The registration timeline. No filing date or expected EDE decision.
- Who holds the licence. Whether the UAE marketing authorisation would sit with Glenmark, ADCAN, M42 or another party.
- The export markets. "Key export markets" are not named.
- Money. No deal value, investment or volume.
- The trials. No IROS study, therapy area or patient numbers were linked to ADCAN.
- Binding terms. An MoU is a statement of intent. No definitive agreement was announced.
The research questions that matter now
For oncology brand, access, medical and supply teams in the UAE and wider GCC, whether at an ADC developer, a competitor or a payer, these are the questions I would want answered with evidence rather than assumptions.
1. Does local packing or release change how payers and hospitals see a product? The UAE promotes "Make it in the Emirates", and the EDE now oversees both registration and pricing. Payer and hospital procurement interviews can test whether a locally packed or released oncology product earns any preference in tenders, formularies or pricing discussions, or none at all.
2. How will oncologists position a new HER2 or other ADC? If the product is a HER2 ADC, it will meet established HER2 therapies in breast, gastric and lung cancer. Structured interviews with medical oncologists in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and the Northern Emirates can map current treatment lines, unmet needs and the evidence they would need to switch. Our UAE oncology outlook covers the wider cancer-care picture.
3. What does a biomarker-driven launch need? ADCs depend on target testing, such as HER2 status or HER2 mutations. Research with pathologists and laboratory heads can show testing rates, turnaround times and who pays for the test. A good drug with poor testing reach will under-perform.
4. Where is ADC safety management a barrier? ADCs carry specific toxicities. Interstitial lung disease, for example, carries a boxed warning on the US label of trastuzumab deruxtecan, an approved HER2 ADC. Interviews with oncologists and oncology pharmacists can show whether centres feel ready to monitor and manage these effects, and which centres would be early adopters.
5. Will sponsors place more trials in the UAE? Clinical operations leads can be asked what would make them choose UAE sites: start-up time, ethics approval speed, patient access through genomic data, or local trial supply. That evidence matters for CROs, sponsors and site networks alike.
6. How do patients and caregivers experience access? Insurance cover in the UAE varies by emirate, employer and plan. Patient research can show where delays happen, from diagnosis to biomarker test to first infusion, and how much patients pay out of pocket.
7. Who are the key opinion leaders for ADCs in the Gulf? As more ADCs reach the region, a small group of oncologists will shape adoption through guidelines, tumour boards and congress talks. Mapping them early helps medical teams plan advisory boards and evidence generation.
Who gains, who loses, and what a sceptic would say
Possible winners. ADCAN, if the Glenmark work becomes a contract and builds its export and quality track record. M42 and IROS, if a manufacturing partner makes the UAE more attractive for trial sponsors. Glenmark, if a UAE base speeds registration and supply in the Gulf. Patients, if local release shortens supply chains for cancer medicines.
Possible losers. Importers and distributors whose role in oncology packing and release could shrink if more of it moves onshore. Multinational ADC brands, if a regionally partnered competitor arrives with local manufacturing credentials and a sharper price.
The sceptic's case. A sceptic would note that MoUs are common at health summits and many never become contracts. Secondary packaging is a modest step compared with true manufacturing. The ADC is unnamed, unregistered and has no timeline. And the UAE oncology market alone is small, so the business case rests on export markets nobody has named. All fair points. They are also exactly the gaps that evidence can close.
What to watch next
- The product name. Any Glenmark, ADCAN or M42 statement naming the ADC.
- An EDE registration decision for an ADC filed through this partnership.
- A definitive agreement turning the MoU into a supply or CDMO contract.
- IROS oncology trials that name ADCAN as a supply or support partner.
- ADCAN's EU-GMP inspection, which Sinis expects in 2027.
- Glenmark's next results, for a named first launch of its partnered oncology pipeline before the end of FY27 (31 March 2027).
What oncology launch and access teams should do now
- Add local manufacturing to your competitive watch list. Track which oncology products are packed, released or registered through UAE partners, and when.
- Test the "made in the UAE" effect with payers and procurement before assuming it helps or hurts your product.
- Map ADC readiness by centre. Biomarker testing, infusion capacity and toxicity management will decide early uptake.
- Profile the ADC prescriber and KOL base now, while the market is still forming.
- Plan UAE trial feasibility with real site and patient data, not summit headlines.
How BioNixus helps
BioNixus has run healthcare market research since 2012, with 118 clients in 48 countries and 127 studies in 2026 so far. Our physician network includes more than 82,000 physicians globally and about 3,200 in the Middle East. We work from our USA office (Americas office and global HQ), our UK office (Europe), our Cairo office (AMEA) and our Dubai field office for the UAE.
For oncology teams in the UAE and GCC, we run oncology market research, physician insights studies with medical oncologists, haematologists and pathologists, KOL mapping, and market access research with payers, insurers and hospital procurement. See our UAE oncology insights and UAE healthcare market research pages for local capabilities.
If you need oncologist, pathologist or payer evidence on ADC positioning, biomarker testing or the value of local supply before your UAE filing or tender, contact BioNixus and we can scope the study within 48 hours. Visit bionixus.com to learn more.
