MANAMA / RIYADH – October 27, 2025: In a groundbreaking move to position Bahrain as a regional biotech innovation hub, the Kingdom’s sovereign wealth fund, Mumtalakat, has signed a $1 billion strategic agreement with US-based SandboxAQ, a leader in artificial intelligence and quantum technologies. The partnership aims to revolutionize drug discovery and development through advanced quantitative AI models and quantum simulation technologies.
Announced during the Future Investment Initiative (FII) conference in Riyadh, the agreement enables Bahrain to license SandboxAQ’s proprietary algorithms, which merge physics, chemistry, and biology to accelerate the identification of new therapeutic compounds.
The collaboration will be managed by a joint research committee tasked with developing novel biotech assets and therapeutics over a three-year program, supported by Bahrain’s growing digital health infrastructure and hospital data networks.
Jack Hidary, CEO of SandboxAQ, described the partnership as a “turning point for biotech sovereignty,” emphasizing that it empowers Bahrain to generate and own intellectual property in high-value drug development—an area historically dominated by a few global players. “This enables Bahrain to focus on diseases with regional impact such as diabetes and genetic disorders while contributing globally to biotech innovation,” he noted.
Shaikh Abdulla bin Khalifa Al Khalifa, CEO of Mumtalakat, said the initiative underscores Bahrain’s commitment to economic diversification and the development of a knowledge-based health sector, aligning with the Kingdom’s long-term innovation strategy.
Clinical trials based on SandboxAQ’s AI-quantum models will begin in Bahrain and could expand across regional research facilities. The collaboration also marks another milestone for SandboxAQ in the Gulf, following its earlier partnership with Saudi Aramco to apply quantum models in industrial applications.
The initiative is expected to create more than $1 billion in biotech assets, attract new investments, and establish Bahrain as a leading destination for AI-driven life sciences research and drug discovery.
