Israel Active

Israel’s VoiceITT won the 2015 Medica medical app competition in Dusseldorf with its Talkitt platform that translates the speech of people with communication disabilities. Medica is the world’s largest medical trade fair, attracting nearly 5,000 exhibitors from 70 nations.

Israel’s Enopace has seen the first operation to implant its new catheter-based neuro-stimulator to treat patients with congestive heart failure. The procedure was performed by Professor Davor Milicic, head of Cardiology at Zagreb Medical University.

The US FDA has granted Breakthrough Therapy Designation status to Israel’s Teva for its SD-809 (deutetrabenazine) treatment of patients with tardive dyskinesia, a hyperkinetic movement disorder affecting about 500,000 people in the USA.  

Israel’s Weizmann Institute has entered into a research agreement with India’s Sun Pharma and Spain’s Health Research Institute of Santiago to develop products for treating neurological diseases such as brain stroke and brain cancer.

Robert Kraft, owner of the New England Patriots, is donating $20 million to fund research in personalized medicine. The Kraft Endowment will allow scientists and physicians to use a patient’s genetic history to understand a disease, then diagnose and develop tailored treatments.

Joint Israeli-US research has discovered that the absence of protein RFX in many elderly people causes hearing loss. The protein is responsible for maintaining tiny hairs (cilia) in the inner ear. When these hairs die off, the person becomes deaf. The team believe their discovery will help develop treatments to restore hearing in patients.

Israeli crowdsourcing platform Sleep ASAP offers insomniacs a solution to their sleeping problems. In a recent study, Sleep ASAP analyzed personality traits and sleep habits of 2500 participants. It successfully determined the reason for the insomnia in 99% of cases.

Israeli researchers at Israel’s Technion have created a new, flexible material that is sensitive to touch and can heal itself automatically if there is damage within 10-30 minutes, according to research published in the Advanced Materials journal.

Researchers at Israel’s Weizmann Institute investigating the protein tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) found in the brains of humans and animals, have discovered that low TH levels increase aggression in males. High TH levels reduce aggression in males but increase motherly instincts in females.

Israel’s SmartZyme is developing new proteins and enzymes for medical and industrial uses. One enzyme has improved bio-electrochemical glucose catalysis, to be used on glucose test strips for the Self Monitoring Blood Glucose (SMBG) market. SmartZyme has just received $4 million of funding.