Israel Active

Tel Aviv Sourasky (Ichilov) Medical Center performed, for the first time in Israel, a donor liver machine perfusion (MP) to improve a dilapidated liver and successfully transplant it into a patient. By repairing aged and damaged livers, it will reduce the shortage of livers from deceased donors.

Israel’s Todos (see previously) completed a Phase 2 study of its Tollovir treatment on 31 hospitalized Covid-19 patients. Their clinical improvement was 2.7 days faster than the placebo group. Jerusalem’s Shaare Zedek hospital is now allowing Tollovir for compassionate use.

To mark World Cancer Day on 4th Feb, these articles describe some of the latest developments of Israeli scientists at the Technion Institute, Ben Gurion University, and Tel Aviv University.

Researchers at Tel Aviv’s Sourasky (Ichilov) Medical Center studied the data of 17,000 pancreatic cancer patients. They discovered that a mutation resulting in the absence of two proteins P15 and P16 allows the cancer to spread to the liver. The findings can help treat such patients.

A great article about Israel’s Neuralight (see previously) and its amazing ocular technology that extracts microscopic eye movement measurements to help diagnose neurological disorders. The platform aims to help developers of treatments for Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, and multiple sclerosis patients.

The latest report of life expectancy for Israeli men is 81 years – 8th in the OECD. For Israeli women it’s 84.8 – 11th in the OECD (see for previous years). Both exceed the OECD average. Israel’s birth rate is by far the highest in the OECD and infant mortality is well below the OECD average.

Israel’s DreaMed (see previously) has now received US FDA approval for use with Type 2 diabetes sufferers as well as Type 1. It will relieve the strain on endocrinologist who each have on average some 46,000 patients.

Israel’s Weizmann Institute, working together with Israel’s Sheba Medical Center can detect inflammation in the intestines by analyzing a fecal sample for the genes expressed in the cells. It can help diagnose gastric disorders such as Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis and monitor their treatment.

Israel’s Maccabi Healthcare has treated 850 of its high-risk coronavirus-infected customers with the new Pfizer Paxlovid pills. 60% significantly improved on the first day, rising to 92% within 3 days.  All recovered.

The CEO of NRx - the US company in charge of trials of Israel’s BriLife coronavirus vaccine – said NRx is designing a Phase II study of BriLife as a booster to protect against COVID-19 variants. The study will be led by the research heads of Israel’s Hadassah and Sourasky (Ichilov) hospitals.