published on Linkedin on 20 July 2025.
Every week, my LinkedIn feed is filled with billion-dollar AI alliances, breakthrough biomarker announcements, and government blueprints for “future healthcare.” Locally and globally, the numbers are extraordinary: the global precision medicine market is set to reach USD 119 billion in 2025 and leap to USD 470 billion by 2034. In the GCC, analysts forecast growth from roughly USD 10 billion in 2022 to USD 12.45 billion by 2029, with similar trajectories in the UAE and Saudi Arabia. Yet amid all this excitement, one crucial layer receives far less attention: in vitro diagnostics (IVDs) and molecular biomarkers, the literal window into a patient’s biology, and the very foundation that enables precision medicine: 70% of clinical decisions globally depend on diagnostics and IVDs are pivotal for realizing the promise of personalized healthcare. In fact, without robust, accessible diagnostics, there simply is no precision medicine: every tailored therapy, every promise of early intervention depends on precise molecular detection and risk stratification at the right moment.
The Investment Reality Behind the Headlines
Despite the buzz in precision medicine
· IVDs consistently attract far less investment than pharmaceuticals and biologics. Globally, diagnostics accounted for only ~8% of total healthcare VC investment in 2023, while almost half of all life sciences VC funding went to therapeutics (pharma/biotech).
· Artificial intelligence is now dominating the healthcare investment scene. 2023 saw $7.2 billion invested in healthcare AI startups in the US alone, surpassing both diagnostics and medical device sectors.
· Geopolitical instability and macroeconomic pressures have sharply reduced global investment, both in number of deals and the capital committed. In 2023, total global venture capital investment in healthcare fell by over 30%, with deal counts reaching five-year lows. Current Geopolitical uncertainties are only making the problem worse.
· Even in the Middle East, where bold precision medicine programs and genome initiatives make headlines, VC investment mirrors the global cooling trend. MENA healthcare funding was down 23% in 2023; in digital health, VC activity dropped from $193M in Q4 2022 to only $56M in Q1 2023. The UAE’s startup investment was down 45% last year, and Saudi Arabia also saw a significant slowdown. A detailed analysis of the major investments in the health space shows precious little apetite for the diagnostics space from sovereign funds and their companies, even as the precision medicine is touted as a major strategic ambition, and ambitious scientific projects like the Emirati (800K samples sequenced!) and Saudi genome projects (63K samples sequenced, targeting ~100K) are generating promising data. But where are the diagnostic systems to translate that data into clinical action? How will this investment in science be transformed into global leadership in the precise medicine and allied industrial sectors?
Ophiomics: Building Reusable Genomic Intelligence
I co-founded Ophiomics as a scientist who was already running a successful precision oncogenomics company in Portugal. But the more I worked at the interface of genomics and clinical care, the more obvious it became that we didn’t just need better laboratories, we needed smarter diagnostics tools. Tools that could truly leverage the power of genomics and AI to catch disease earlier and guide therapeutic decisions in ways that really maximize patient outcomes.
We, myself and my co-founder @Joana Vaz, didn’t just want to build another single-product diagnostics company aiming at a fast exit. We wanted to re-architect how precision diagnostics are developed. Ophiomics became an end-to-end company built on reusable molecular and computational technologies, where building new tests is faster, prototyping is more cost-effective, and where data and algorithm development is the core of our strategy, not an afterthought.
Our first product focus – decisions around liver cancer transplantation in the context of liver cancer – was serendipitous. It was the area of interest of my last PhD student before I left academia (@Hugo Pinto Marques). But it turned out to be a fortunate bet. Liver disease is a space deeply underserved by precision medicine, despite being one of the deadliest and fastest-growing global health threats. It became our clinical mission beyond “simple” technical challenges.
The Silent Epidemic: Why Liver Needs Precision Diagnostics Now
I recently took the time to write a longer text on this topic, but let me just stress a few key ideias here that support my view that liver disease is the silent epidemic of our time:
· More than 2 million people die each year worldwide from liver disease: 1 in every 25 global deaths.
· Liver cancer incidence has tripled since 1980, and is forecast increase further as obesity and metabolic syndrome (MASLD) surge.
· Most liver diseases remain asymptomatic for 20–30 years; nearly 38% of adults globally already have metabolic liver disease, a figure that continues to rise.
· Half of patients only receive a diagnosis during an emergency admission; tragically, 37% die within a year of that crisis moment.
· Early-stage diagnosis extends life by 9-12 years, while late diagnoses mean only 2 years, on average, and effective treatments come too late.
And yet today, most regional health systems lack structured pathways for early detection; 1 in 4 adults with early fatty liver disease remains undiagnosed.
Why the Next Move Must Be Diagnostics
For liver health, this is the inflection point: we can no longer afford late detection and irreversible outcomes. With the right diagnostics, we can shift liver disease from a silent killer into a predictable, preventable, and manageable condition, transforming how millions live and how systems respond.
Zooming out, the message is just as urgent and strategic: IVDs are among the few health technologies that can deliver clinical impact and EBITDA-positive performance quickly. If Saudi Arabia and the UAE are serious about global leadership in precision medicine, this is where science meets sovereignty, turning health innovation into sovereign capability, economic diversification, and globally exportable excellence.
If you’re passionate about moving this vision from promise to practice, let’s connect.
#PrecisionMedicine #LiverHealth #GenomicsAI #Diagnostics #IVD #SilentKiller #EarlyDetection #HealthcareInnovation
Souces used:
Precedence Research, “Precision Medicine Market Size and Forecast 2025–2034”
Mobility Foresights, “GCC Precision Medicine Market Size and Forecasts 2030”
Insights10, “UAE Precision Medicine Market Report 2022–2030”
IMARC Group, “Saudi Arabia Precision Medicine Market Size, Report 2033”
Kalorama Information, “In Vitro Diagnostics (IVD) Market in 2024”
SVB, “Healthcare Investments and Exits Report 2023”
DelveInsight, “AI Healthcare Startups Funding Trends”
SVB, “Healthcare Investments and Exits Report 2023”
Magnitt, “FY 2023 MENA Venture Investment Report”
The National, “Personalised medicine a step closer as 800,000 Emiratis contribute to UAE Genome Programme”
LinkedIn, “Unlocking the Genetic Tapestry: Saudi Genome Project”
The Lancet Gastroenterology & Hepatology, “Global Burden Report 2020”
Cancer Research UK, “Liver cancer statistics (2023)”
Nature Reviews Gastroenterology & Hepatology, “Global prevalence of MAFLD” (2023)
British Liver Trust, “Liver Disease in the UK – The Human Cost”
Journal of Hepatology, “Burden of early liver disease: Unrecognized cases” (2023)
Integrated Diagnostics Holdings, 2024 Financial Release
(I used Perplexity.AI to source data, and ChatGPT to polish text and generate image; all ideas are my own, and any errors my responsibility)