Israel Active

Israel’s Innoventric has developed Trillium - a device to fix a leak in the tricuspid valve, one of four valves that regulate blood flow through the heart. But instead of replacing the valve, the prosthetic device is inserted into a large vein in a 10-minute procedure under conscious sedation.

Israel’s Pi-Cardia (see previously) has received US-FDA approval for its ShortCut heart valve decalcification device. ShortCut is used to remove calcium from heart valves, making them more flexible, prior to heart valve replacement (e.g. TAVR or TMVR) procedures.

Following last week’s Israeli cancer breakthrough (see ), now Weizmann Institute researchers have found an antibody (against CD84) that prevents tumors building molecular bridges from suppressing the immune system. Lab tests were successful at treating triple-negative breast cancer. :

A three-year-old boy hospitalized in Jerusalem with a severe blood cancer got a new lease on life thanks to the selflessness of Matan Amir, a 21-year-old IDF soldier fighting in Gaza who was identified as a suitable bone marrow donor for the toddler.

The Nobel Prize in medicine was awarded to Americans Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun for their discovery of microRNA. Both men were awarded Israel’s Wolf Prize in 2014. Ruvkun, who is Jewish, won the Dan David Prize, headquartered at Tel Aviv University, in 2011.

An international study led by Israel’s Ben-Gurion University scientists showed controlling blood sugar levels is a significant key mechanism linking diet to slower brain aging. The 300-participant study was one of the longest and largest brain MRI trials in the world.

Hebrew University of Jerusalem’s Prof Haitham Amal (see previously) is the only non-USA member of a new consortium focused on pioneering autism research. It has just been awarded a research grant of $17 million by the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine.

Denmark’s Medicines Agency has approved Allocetra cell therapy from Israel’s Enlivex (see previously) for Phase II clinical trials on patients with osteoarthritis in the knee. 40% of men and 47% of women develop knee osteoarthritis in their lifetimes. Allocetra also treats Covid and cancer.

Israel’s BeiGene has received Israeli Ministry of Health approval for its TEVIMBRA® to treat Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma (ESCC) after chemotherapy.  It has also gone on sale in the USA.

Tel Aviv University researchers were checking protein levels after exposure to UV light. They saw that Ly6a levels rose significantly and speculated it might suppress the immune system in cancer patients. Lab tests showed that antibodies against Ly6a reduced tumor size in many cancers.