Israel Active

Israel’s Kahr Medical plans to begin human trials of its DSP107 treatment on lung cancer patients. It will be tested both standalone and in combination with Roche’s Tecentriq (atezolizumab). DSP107 finds and marks cancer cells, then alerts the immune system and blocks the cancer.

The European Union Horizon 2020 research and innovation program has awarded a 2.4 million euros grant to Israel’s Tarsius. Tarsius’s new molecule “re-engineers” the immune system to treat autoimmune and inflammatory ocular diseases that can eventually cause blindness.

I reported previously on Israel’s Savicell and its ImmunoBiopsy blood test for detecting early stage lung cancer. Savicell’s test checks for the metabolic reactions that the immune system produces when it detects and attacks a tumor. Experts say the method is very promising.

Scientists at Israel’s Weizmann Institute have found that treating melanoma with immunotherapy is only successful if the cancer cells are homogeneous (simple / comprised of a small number of subtypes). Other treatments should be used if they are heterogeneous (complex / diverse) to achieve a more successful patient response.

I reported previously on Israel’s Medaware and its medication error protection system. The potentially life-saving solution has just been implemented at Assuta hospital in Ashdod. It is already deployed at Sheba medical center in Tel Hashomer.

Bacteria such as salmonella use a layer of biofilm to attach themselves to surfaces such as skin, medical devices, tissues, etc. Scientists at Israel’s Technion Institute used Alzheimer’s treatments to disrupt the biofilms. The salmonella virus couldn’t stick to the surfaces and became much less aggressive.

Israel’s Igentify develops a digital genetic testing analyzer that can provide medical professionals with the means to focus on, treat and counsel high risk patients. Already in use in two major Israeli hospitals, Igentify has just raised $10.5 million including from crowdfunding company OurCrowd.

Surgeons have now used the Dreal system from Israel’s Carevature in over 1600 spine decompression procedures. The system helps remove the minimum amount of obstructing tissue, reducing patient trauma and speeding recovery. Now available at Scripps Green hospital in California.

The Wall St Journal reports that Israel is becoming a testing ground for the power of artificial intelligence to improve health care. It suggests that digitized records and big data could make medicine cheaper and more effective.

In an Israeli first, two women have each been given a 3D printed titanium alloy implant to replace a broken talus (the main connector between the foot and leg). Doctors at Beilinson Hospital in Petah Tikva are confident that both women will soon be walking normally again.