Israel Active

I reported previously on Israel’s Entera Bio which is testing treatments for disorders in the parathyroid gland, and osteoporosis. Entera Bio has now filed for floating the biotech on NASDAQ to fund Phase II/III trials of its treatment for hypoparathyroidism.

A research team from Israel’s Bar-Ilan University has developed “Prophecy” - a first-ever formula that lets hyaluronic acid penetrate the deeper skin layers, to smooth out wrinkles using a cream and without injection. Hyaluronic acid absorbs water to smooth the skin and has antioxidant properties to slow the aging process.

Israeli charity Ezer Mizion recently hosted a major conference on Alternative and Augmentative Communication (AAC).  The aim of the conference was to share the cutting-edge knowledge that Ezer Mizion has been advancing.  Those on Facebook please watch the video of the conference’s opening.

The ReWalk is an FDA approved exoskeleton that allows individuals with spinal-cord injuries to stand, walk, and move freely. Israel’s Re-Walk has already helped more than 100 paraplegics take their first steps towards mobility – some can be seen in this new short video.

Israel’s Insightec has been granted US FDA approval to use its Exablate Neuro system with 1.5T MRI - the most common MRI system in use today.  It should vastly expand the use of Insightec’s successful non-invasive focused ultrasound treatment for essential tremor.

Scientists at Israel’s Weizmann Institute genetically sequenced every cell in the brain’s immune system (microglia). In Alzheimer’s disease, they found Disease-Associated Microglia (DAM) trying to keep the brain healthy, but restrained due to insufficient or mutated key regulatory proteins like TREM2. It may lead to new therapies.

Israeli biotech Todos Medical has developed the “Total Biochemical Infrared Analysis” (TBIA) method for screening of solid tumors. The patient’s white blood cells are exposed to a spectrum of light. Analysis of the results reveals where the immune system has responded to tumor presence.

Diabetic women recovering from the aggressive HER2-positive form of cancer double the risk of recurrence if they take insulin. Now a Phase III trial led by scientists at Jerusalem’s Hadassah Hospital has shown that the anti-diabetic treatment metformin can prevent recurrence.

The prestigious Howard Hughes Medical Institute has awarded 5-year grants of $650,000 each to 41 international biomedical scientists. Six of them (14.6%) are Israelis – three from the Weizmann Institute, two from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and one from Israel’s Technion.

Ben-Gurion University scientists and Soroka University Medical Center doctors have established the hospital-university-based (HUB) autism database to benefit scientists, patients and their families. One goal is to help identify different autism subtypes, likely generated by different causes.