The Riyadh Global Medical Biotechnology Summit 2023 has introduced five key themes for its panel discussions which will feature government officials, experts, and medical biotechnology scientists. The summit looks to maximize health technical investment. Prince Abdullah bin Bandar, the Saudi minister of National Guard, on Wednesday officially opened the two-day Summit. On the opening day, the Summit’s panel discussions, sessions and activities dealt with cell and gene therapy. Participants discussed investment trends in biotechnology and the strategic implementation of cellular therapy in Saudi Arabia. They also reviewed ways to pave the way for cell therapy based on iPS (a technology for liquid crystal displays), and the extent to which cell and gene therapy can be enabled through new modalities for engineered therapies. In an opening speech, Bandar Al-Kinawy, executive director general of Ministry of National Guard Health Affairs, quoted Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman who had said that “we are building a more prosperous homeland where citizen’s find all that they desire.” “For the future of our homeland, which we are building together, we will only accept that we make it at the forefront of the countries of the world.” Al-Kinawy stressed that, as an inspirational leader, the Crown Prince has harnessed capabilities, supported renaissance, created competitiveness, and raised the ceiling of aspirations towards more creativity and excellence. Moreover, Al-Kinawy described the global summit as a milestone for medical biotechnology that represents the future of the health sector. He said that through the summit he looks forward to the development of a Saudi biotech health industry, built through an exchange of knowledge between industry leaders around the world, that consolidates the Kingdom’s position as a pioneer in the field and provides opportunities for innovators to present their ideas, explore investment opportunities, and discuss regulatory legislation, to help face global health challenges. Ahmed Alaskar, Executive Director of the King Abdullah International Medical Research Center, reaffirmed that hopes hang high on the Summit’s results in its second edition. “What we are witnessing today in terms of the acceleration of technological development at the global level will positively affect the life and livelihood of the individual, and will be accompanied by transformations in the economies of societies and the orientations of countries in general,” said Alaskar. “This transformation coincides with an insightful vision of the Kingdom’s leadership, which set among its goals the transformation from an economy based on oil to one based on alternative products and advanced technologies, and even leadership in the field,” he added.