Israel Active

Israel’s Cordio Medical (see previously) has been granted breakthrough device designation by the US FDA for its HearO smartphone app that gives early warning of congestive heart failure by detecting subtle changes in voice tone. It could save millions of lives every year.

Israel’s UVTAL Health has developed Rumble – an app that uses social, behavioral and economic incentives to help over one million Israelis take exercise. The app records the number of steps walked and converts that into tokens that can be spent at many shops and websites.

Europe’s CE Mark has been awarded to the Remote Patient AI Monitoring Platform developed by Israel’s Biobeat Medical. The system has recently been radically upgraded and now automatically and continuously tracks 15 cardio-pulmonary vital signs.

Israel’s UltraSight has developed an ultrasound device and AI software that allows medical professionals to perform timely and accurate cardiac ultrasound tests regardless of their sonography (medical ultrasound) training. UltraSight won the TCT 2020 Innovation Competition.

Scientists at Israel’s Weizmann Institute have used a light-sensitive protein derived from mosquitos to regulate the pathways connecting parts of the brain. They believe that the discovery may lead to treatments for neurological disorders such as epilepsy.

Researchers from Tel Aviv University have developed an active molecule (SNV) that can significantly suppress inflammation and resulting bone destruction following dental implants. SNV was originally developed to treat Alzheimer’s disease but was tested on implants by a dentist for her PhD thesis.

Israel’s SpliSense (see ), is developing mRNA-altering therapies for cystic fibrosis (CF) and other genetic pulmonary diseases. SpliSense founder Professor Batsheva Kerem was part of the Hebrew University team that identified the CFTR gene and developed the CF therapy.

Israel’s Institute for Biological Research (IIBR) anticipates commencing Phase 3 of its coronavirus vaccine trials soon – probably in Argentina as 30,000 unvaccinated volunteers are required. A new trial may also be launched to test if the two-shot vaccine could be combined into a higher dose single shot.

Tel Aviv University scientists conducted the world’s first digital monitoring study to check concerns about the side effects of the SARS-Cov-2 vaccine. Almost all 160 Israelis monitored showed changes to vital signs (heart rates, blood pressure etc.). These all returned to normal 3 days later.

Scientists at Israel’s Weizmann Institute have produced the most detailed analysis yet of how SARS-Cov-2 stops cells from making the proteins needed to alert the immune system. When Covid-19 is finally detected, the immune system’s cytokine storm response is too massive.