RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA, Aug. 27, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Riyadh Global Medical Biotechnology Summit has published the scientific program for its fourth edition, and the names on it belong to the people currently deciding what medicine will be able to do in the next twenty years. Sixty confirmed speakers and moderators from eleven countries are named across three days, from 14 to 16 September 2026, at the Sofitel Riyadh Hotel and Convention Centre.
Among them are Prof. Jin-Soo Kim of KAIST, whose work on mitochondrial DNA editing reaches beyond CRISPR; Dr. Matthew H. Porteus of Stanford University, engineering genetic circuits into cell-based medicines; Dr. Alex Shalek of MIT; Prof. Vijay Kuchroo of Harvard Medical School; Prof. Keith T. Flaherty of the Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center and President of the American Association for Cancer Research; Prof. George F. Gao of the Chinese Academy of Sciences; President Mitsuo Ochi of Hiroshima University; and Dr. Zdenko Herceg of the International Agency for Research on Cancer.
They are joined by the people who move science into the world. Dr. Steve Yang, Co-CEO of WuXi AppTec, and Mr. Alec Reynolds of Flagship Pioneering open the program on global partnership. Mr. Kasim Kutay, Chief Executive Officer of Novo Holdings, speaks on where capital should go next. Dr. Hyun-Young Park, Deputy Minister of the Korea National Institute of Health, delivers the closing keynote. Alongside them stand the Saudi institutions building a biotechnology sector in real time: KAIMRC, Lifera, HUMAIN, SPIMACO, KAUST, the Saudi Food and Drug Authority, and Astronaut Rayyanah Barnawi on what the human immune system does in space.
The program runs across six tracks: artificial intelligence in biotechnology, multi-omics, biotech investment, immunology, bioengineering and synthetic biology, and biotech workforce development. Its defining feature is that discovery and delivery share the same stage. Genome editing and population genomics sit beside regulation, domestic manufacturing, and procurement, and in several sessions the scientists and the regulators are on the same panel. That is the premise of the Kingdom's National Biotechnology Strategy, which targets $34.6 billion in non-oil GDP from biotechnology by 2040: a discovery is worth only as much as the system available to carry it to a patient.
"Biotechnology is where the health of every nation will be decided over the next twenty years. Saudi Arabia has chosen not to watch that happen from a distance. We are building the laboratories, the manufacturing, the regulatory ecosystems, and above all, the bio-workforce talent. And we are building it in partnership with the world, under one roof.
That is what this Summit is for. Its themes highlight where medicine and biotechnology converge to shape the future of biosciences.
Discoveries and breakthroughs are transforming how we care for patients. The diversity of emerging technologies and therapies is creating significant opportunities to explore, advance, invest, and translate scientific progress into better health outcomes. Please join us in Riyadh this September." H.E. Prof. Bandar bin Abdulmohsen Al-Knawy, Chief Executive Officer of Health Affairs, Ministry of National Guard, and President, King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences
The Summit is organized and supervised by the Ministry of National Guard, represented by its Health Affairs sector, and hosted by King Abdullah International Medical Research Center (KAIMRC) and King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences (KSAU-HS), with the Ministry of Investment and Invest Saudi serving as strategic partners. The fourth edition is expected to welcome more than 15,000 visitors, over 200 biotechnology and healthcare brands, and delegations from more than 70 countries, under the theme Building the Foundations of Biotechnology Excellence.
The full scientific program is attached and available at rgmbs.org, where registration is open for delegates, exhibitors, and industry partners. Follow the Summit at #RGMBS2026.
For further information regarding summit programing visit: https://rgmbs.org/program#conference-agenda
About the Riyadh Global Medical Biotechnology Summit
The Riyadh Global Medical Biotechnology Summit is the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's flagship platform for medical biotechnology, convening the global scientific, investment, and policy communities in Riyadh. Organized and supervised by the Ministry of National Guard, represented by its Health Affairs sector, and hosted by KAIMRC and KSAU-HS, the Summit advances the goals of the National Biotechnology Strategy and supports the Kingdom's emergence as a global destination for health innovation. The fourth edition takes place from 14 to 16 September 2026 in Riyadh.
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