Israel Active

Israel’s LifeBond has developed LifeSeal - a sealant to greatly reduce surgical leaks, which are associated with potential infections and other serious complications, risking the lives of hundreds of thousands every year. LifeBond has just raised $27 million of funding.

Three Israeli companies were chosen by the World Economic Forum (WEF) in its 2015 list of 14 Technology Pioneers in the Life Science and Health category. ElMindA’s Brain Network Activation identifies brain damage. Consumer Physics’s SCIO is a chemical analyzer. Novocure uses electric fields to treat solid tumors.

Israeli startup XACT Robotics developed a robotic system for needle steering, for use in biopsies and ablations, or to inject medications in specific areas of the body. The first application of XACT’s technology will be for biopsies in lung tissue. XACT has just raised $5 million to fund US trials.

A team of researchers from Tel Aviv University, Israel’s Technion, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Sheba Medical Center have discovered what causes melanoma cells to turn into aggressive tumors. The scientists are convinced that it will soon lead to a breakthrough treatment.

Professor Ervin Weiss, founder of Israel’s NanoLock, has invented a nano-polymer additive that protects against microbial infections – one of the most urgent medical problems. NanoLock has just acquired licenses and patents for the technology.

Israel’s Sight Diagnostics (SightDx) uses computer vision technology to scan “stained” blood samples under a fluorescent microscope and detect the presence of anomalies in blood cells due to malaria. The 3 minute test contrasts with current tests that take one or two days.

When Professor Rafi Eldor was told that he had Parkinson’s disease, seven years ago, he felt that the sky had fallen on him. Two years later he took up dancing and now watch him dance to the theme tune of the movie “Skyfall”.

A new study on stem cells developed by Israeli biotech Pluristem shows they can be used to regulate the immune system, speeding it up or slowing it down as needed. They release a cocktail of therapeutic proteins in response to a host of inflammatory and ischemic diseases.

IBM Israel researchers are working on a project to detect brain diseases such as dementia, much earlier. It involves monitoring the patient’s voice remotely and detecting changes, so that activities and medication could slow down the advance of the disease.

Scientists from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem have successfully engineered large amounts of functioning liver cells from stem cells. It is a major breakthrough as currently, biotechs testing new liver treatments have to rely on donated or purchased organs.