Israel Active

Israel’s Sheba Medical Center has begun the first study in the world of the efficacy of administering a fourth dose of the coronavirus vaccine. The 6,000 participants include 150 medical personnel who had a 3rd dose in August. They will receive the Pfizer vaccine.

Back in 2013 (see previously) Tel Aviv University researchers found that the sugar substitute mannitol could protect the brain against Parkinson’s disease. But a trial could not get funding. So, entrepreneur and Parkinson’s sufferer Dan Vesely co-founded and crowdfunded CliniCrowd.

Israel’s Pharma Two B (see in 2015) has successfully completed the Phase 3 human trial of its P2B001 treatment for Parkinson’s Disease. The trial met its primary and key secondary endpoints, and the company can now prepare for US FDA approval.

18 COVID-19 patients hospitalized with moderate or severe symptoms were treated with Amor-18 from Israel’s Amorphical (see previously). All recovered and were discharged in a few days.

Israel’s Binah.ai (see previously) has come a long way in the last 18 months. Some 50 million customers of the world’s top insurance companies now use Binah’s remote health and wellness monitoring platform to measure vital signs, from the changes in the reflection of light on facial skin.

Israel’s AiVF (see previously) has received regulatory approval to sell its IVF analysis platform product in the United Kingdom - one of the largest IVF markets in Europe. It can predict, without the need for a biopsy, whether a given embryo is genetically suitable for transfer.

The virtual reality simulator from Israel’s DecideVR identifies decision-making errors by doctors in medical treatment in intensive care units (ICU). The platform, developed by Professor Alex Mintz, formerly of Herzliya’s Reichman University, currently focuses on life-saving cardiovascular decisions.

Israel’s Nanox (see previously) has delivered the first of its next-generation X-ray machines to Israel’s Shamir Medical Center in Tzifrin. The Nanox.ARC uses low-radiation X-rays to produce high-resolution 3-D digital images, previously only available from expensive CT scans.

Scientists at Haifa University and the Technion Institute have found a link between bacteria in the gut and sleep patterns.  Those that eat fatty foods tend to be night owls, whereas those that have a high fiber diet tend to be early risers.

The partnership between Israel’s Datos Health and Israel’s Sheba Medical Center has progressed to at-home monitoring of babies born with complex heart malformations. Babies monitored include in the Palestinian Authority, Gaza, Iraq, Kurdistan, and Cyprus.