Israel Active

Israel’s Kadimastem is partnering with France’s Defymed to develop a stem cell-based bio-artificial pancreas for the treatment of type 1 diabetes. They received NIS 5.4 million from the European Commission and the intergovernmental research organization EUREKA.

Israeli biotech 89Bio has just raised $60 million to advance its pipeline of biologic and small molecule treatments for liver and metabolic disorders. 89Bio’s BIO89-100 is in a phase 1 clinical trial for treating nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), a type of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.

Since 1999 surgeons from Israel’s Save a Child’s Heart have saved the lives of over 750 children from Tanzania.  SACH doctors recently flew again to Jakaya Kikwete Cardiac Hospital in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania to conduct life-saving heart surgeries.

Israel’s Zion Medical has just conducted successful human trials of its “Gammora” AIDS / cancer treatment. Gammora eliminates HIV virus-infected cells - not the virus – preventing development of resistance.  

Hebrew University of Jerusalem scientists have developed a molecule to treat glioblastoma, a very aggressive type of brain cancer. The molecule blocks the ability of the MKNK2 gene to produce Mnk2b – a cancer-causing protein but increases the levels of Mnk2a – an inhibitor protein.

I reported previously on Israel’s Alpha Tau’s radiation emitters starting trials in the USA.  Trials have also been launched at two centers in Rome, Italy. But I should have mentioned that 70% of patients in earlier Israeli and Italian studies saw their tumors disappear in just a few weeks.

I’ve reported previously that Israeli researchers at Sheba hospital have linked Alzheimer’s disease with loss of retina function. They have now found that in those with a family history of Alzheimer’s, the inner layer of the retina is thinner than usual.

3D-printing is relevant even in the medical industry. Hebrew University of Jerusalem scientists have engineered capsules from a hydrogel that can change shape upon various conditions.  E.g. to release medication only in the intestines, or to expand to fill the stomach.

I reported previously on Israel’s Sweetch and its system for detecting pre-diabetics. Sweetch is partnering with US-based WellSpan Health, providing its 15,000 employees with “the tool we have been looking for to augment our wellness assessment program”.

I reported previously on Israeli innovations that can detect illness by analyzing someone’s voice. Israeli startup HealthyMize has just won $75 million in the Henry Ford Health System’s “Increasing Patient and Caregiver Engagement to Reduce Readmission” Challenge.