Israel Active

AION Labs - the Israeli innovation lab for startups (see previously) has itself launched a startup.  OMEC.AI aims to predict if a new treatment will succeed following pre-clinical trials. Its next-generation computational platform will gauge effectiveness and expose safety issues.

Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) was well known during the “mad cow” epidemic. But it can also be caused by an inherited gene mutation. Tel Aviv’s Sourasky (Ichilov) Medical Center is one of only a dozen hospitals globally to use a 92% accurate spinal fluid test for early onset CJD.

Scientists at Israel’s Weizmann Institute have discovered that most tumors have fungi growing inside them. They have also documented their types using records from 17,000 cancer patients. DNA from fungi is detectable in the blood and can be used to develop a new cancer screening method.

The death of his mother led Dean Bitan to found Israel’s Imagene (see previously). The startup has developed tech that can conduct a full molecular analysis on a digitized biopsy image in real time and give a result in minutes, instead of the current situation of a few weeks.

Israel’s Sheba Medical Center is partnering with Thomas Jefferson University in the USA, to promote neuroscience research and clinical treatment at both institutions. It includes construction of a cutting-edge neuroscience center on Sheba’s Tel HaShomer campus, targeted to open in late 2024.

A recent clinical study has shown that AstaPure Arava® by Israel’s Solabia- Algatech Nutrition benefits the immune system and lowers stress. It boosts the gut microbiome while lowering the stress hormone cortisol. The result is a much better resistance to infections.

Israel’s Genetika+ is developing a precision tool to determine if a particular antidepressant will work for an individual. It will also apparently highlight any side effects. (See also .)

Ofer Shalev, Founder & CEO at Israel’s New Phase (see previously) spoke at CTech’s Mind the Tech NY Conference.  New Phase’s hyperthermic therapy reduces cancer from Stage 4 to Stage 2 so patients can live with a better quality of life. Clinical trials have started.  

Professors from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the Hadassah Cancer Research Institute are leading CanceRNA - a European consortium working to develop novel immunotherapy treatments for cancer. The consortium will initially focus on treating acute myeloid leukemia.

Scientists at Israel’s Weizmann Institute have developed a blood test to detect colorectal cancer, which is normally found through an invasive test, and pancreatic cancer, which has no single diagnostic test. The proof of concept is now to be taken to trials.