Israel Active

The US FDA has granted Fast-Track Designation to the groundbreaking antimicrobial peptide OMN6 from Israel’s Omnix Medical (see previously). OMN6 is commencing a Phase II trial in patients with two deadly hospital-acquired pneumonias - HABP and VABP.

Israel’s BrainsWay’s has published another positive study of 247 depression patients receiving its Deep Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation treatment. 60% went into remission and 80% had a positive response. The results confirmed a 2023 study of 1,350 patients.

The number of Israelis aged 75 and over is growing by about 9,000 individuals per year. Life expectancy in Israel is 85 years for women and 82 years for men and continues to increase. Currently some 346,000 people receive elderly care benefits (e.g. home caregiver) as compared to about 180,000 in 2018.

Israel’s XRHealth (see previously) is to deploy its VR/AR solution in a specially equipped “quiet room” at every police station throughout Israel. It aims to promote mental health resilience, decrease stress, anxiety, and aggression, and improve performance.

Ben Gurion University scientists have just published the results of their work reported in 2019. In trying to develop a biologic remedy to reduce the methane produced by cows, they have uncovered a war in the intestines between good and bad bacteria and a probiotic toxin that tries to mediate.

Researchers at Israel’s Ben Gurion University have developed a nanometer size polymer containing a peptide for delivering chemotherapy. In lab tests, it was over 50% successful in destroying resistant liver metastases (secondary cancer) materialized from colorectal cancer.

A study of 23 progressive multiple sclerosis patients at Hadassah Hospital Ein Kerem highlighted significant beneficial effects of repeated stem cell injections. They improved neurological function, cognition, and quality of life with no adverse effects.

The pain-relieving video games from Israel’s TrainPain (see previously) are now available to download on iPhone and Android phones. You also need to order (fees required) the haptic pod and cables. Available in the US only.

The prestigious Nature magazine named Israeli Tal Patalon, outgoing head of the KSM research and innovation center of Maccabi Healthcare Services, as one of the world’s change-makers in medical research. Her team’s COVID-19 research changed vaccination policies in the United States.

The first European MedEx event took place in Paris, gathering more than 400 doctors and dentists from France and Belgium. At MedEx, potential immigrant medics can convert licenses and engage directly with representatives from Israeli healthcare institutions.