Israel Healthcare & Medical Device Industry

Telemedicine and remote monitoring solutions provider Aerotel Medical Systems partner with Turkish mobile operator Turkcell to market Aerotel’s Advanced Wireless Telemedicine and Telecare Solutions in Turkey. The two companies will demonstrate Aerotel’s solutions at CeBIT Eurasia, held in Istanbul, Turkey, 2-7 October, 2007.

“By offering innovative mobile and wireless monitoring solutions we are enabling people on the move to get all the benefits of telemedicine and telecare technologies, enjoy their lives and save costs,” explains David Rubin, Aerotel’s CEO. “Aerotel’s mobile solutions offer significant clinical and economical benefits for patients, families, physicians and administrators.”

At CeBIT Eurasia the two companies will be demonstrating Wireless homecare hubs for connecting multiple medical sensors in the home; Wireless ECG and SKeeper personal safety phone, a wearable emergency alarm and cellular communicator device developed by Aerotel.

Turkcell is the leading GSM operator in Turkey with 33.8 million postpaid and prepaid customers. Aerotel Medical Systems is leading provider of medical diagnostic systems and devices for home care, eHealth and telemedicine.

Medical diagnostic applications developer Pocared Diagnostics raised $10.7 million in a financial round of led by Elron and SCP Vitalife Partners.

“We view Pocared as a highly innovative company presenting an out-of-the-box solution and introducing a disruptive platform technology in the field of real-time IVD,” said Elad Frenkel, Elron’s Director of Business Development.

Pocared provides an innovative solution for real-time, reagentless In-Vitro Diagnostics (IVD). The company wide technological platform may be used to address a wide range of medical and industrial diagnostic applications.

Pocared’s Point-of-Care (POC) diagnostic systems, based upon selective spectrum technology, enable immediate, on-site analysis of human fluids and specimen in order to provide physicians with real-time detection, identification and antibiotic sensitivity of pathogenic bacteria.

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Exports of the Israel’s life science industry will doable to $10 billion by 2009, according to a new forecast by Israel Export Institute, that revealed before the opening of Biomed 2007 conference, the key event of Israel’s life science industry.

The sector’s exports increased by 32% to $4.7 billion in 2006 and grow by 26% to $1.2 billion in the first quarter of 2007. 

Other new figures that reported towards the Biomed Israel 2007 Week, show that in the last six months (November 2006 to May 2007), the Israel Chief Scientist office earmarked $100 million in budgets for the life science industry.

The Chief Scientist handled applications from 58 companies for support in 114 specific projects. Of the $100 million given to the life science industry, research and development budgets accounted for $41 million.

The figures also show that support of the life science industry continues to grow its share of the Chief Scientist’s “budget pie”. In 2000, the Chief Scientist office allocated 14% of its budget to this area. By 2003, the rate was 23% and in 2006 28% of the total budget.

A breakdown into industry segments shows that biotechnology received the largest share of the Chief Scientist’s R&D allocations with $31 million, compared with $27 million in 2005. Medical devices protected its share at $25 million, while pharmaceuticals increased their share of R&D support from $17 million in 2005 to $22 million in 2006.

Total R&D grants extended by the Chief Scientist office for life science ventures in 2006 was $78 million. 20% of the approved programs were for medical devices, 43% for bio-pharma and 37% for biotechnology.

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Israeli medical device startups, Biolert and Brainsway, have won the Medical Futures Innovation Awards of 2007 in the category of Mental Health & Neuroscience. The Medical Futures Innovation Award is the United Kingdom’s most sought after healthcare award, supported by the UK prime minister.

Biolert have been selected as an Award winner in the category of ‘Neuroscience Innovation’ for its innovation solution EpiLert, a wireless device alerting caregivers of an on-going epileptic attack. It was chosen on three principle criteria, namely; novelty; impact on patient care and its viability, whether that be clinical, technical or commercial.

Brainsway has won the award for its unique Deep TMS technology, aimed for the non-invasive treatment of various neurological and psychiatric disorders.

The award is aimed to encourage, support and reward clinical and commercial excellence from the healthcare & life sciences professions. The criteria for the award emphasize the potential benefit for patients, the novelty and the technical and commercial applicability. Awards will be officially granted on June 14 at the Innovators Gallery Exhibition & Awards Ceremony in London, UK.

BioLert, Brainsway and about 100 other projects entered the contest of the ‘mental health and neuroscience’ group. The judge committee, including leading professors of psychiatry, neurology and business people in the U.K., based their judgment on the combination of contribution to medicine, innovation and financial promise.

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The number of Mergers & Acquisitions (M&As) and IPOs of Israeli life sciences companies totaled $736 million in 2006. This amount accounts for 7.4% of total M&As carried out by Israeli technology companies in 2006. According to a new survey held by IVC Research Center towards the Biomed Israel 2007 Week.

Nine life science companies raised $85 million in IPOs carried out in stock exchanges in the USA, Europe, Asia and Israel, which accounts for 12.3% of the IPOs of all high tech companies in Israel. 41% of the IPOs of life science companies were of medical instrumentation companies. The survey also reveals that 77 new life science companies were established from the beginning of 2006.

“2007 figures testify for an increase in the scope of IPOs by life science companies as compared with 2006, said Efrat Zakai, IVC’s research manager. ”From the beginning of the year, companies issued shares at total value of $145 million. The three most prominent IPOs were of BioLineRX and Itamar Medical, which were issued at the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, and Rosetta Genomics, which was issued at NASDAQ at $30.2 million.”

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NovaThera and Gamida Cell signed a collaboration agreement aimed at developing cell therapeutic treatments for lung repair and regeneration. The two companies will pool technology and expertise and work together with the clinical team at Papworth Hospital in the UK towards advancing cell therapy approaches for treating lung disease.

NovaThera specializes in pioneering applications of biomaterials and stem cell biology for regenerative medicine and tissue engineering to provide innovative therapeutic solutions.

Gamida Cell develops therapeutics using proprietary technologies that expand populations of hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells such as those derived from cord blood for the treatment of hematological diseases as well as for tissue regeneration applications.

“This is a very exciting development, and could be a huge step towards a practical approach to the regeneration and repair of lungs severely damaged by incurable diseases such as emphysema and smoking,” said Dame Professor Julia Polak, from the Imperial College London and a world expert in the field of lung pathology.

Lung disease is a major killer and the cause of chronic illness in the western world. Research indicates that considerable advances in treating lung disease could come from using stem cells to repair and regenerate damaged tissues.

GammaCan, a developer of novel immunotherapies to treat cancer, raised $6.5 million in a private placement with a group of investors lead by T.R. Winston & Company.

“These funds will enable us to continue the development of VitiGam for the treatment of Stage III and Stage IV melanoma,” said Patrick Schnegelsberg, CEO.

GammaCan develops innovative immunotherapy and related approaches to treat cancer. GammaCan is planning to submit its Investigational New Drug Application (IND) for VitiGam to the FDA in the near future. The Company is expecting to commence human clinical trials shortly thereafter.

VitiGam is a first-in-class IgG-based anti-cancer immunotherapy being developed for the treatment of Stage III and Stage IV melanoma. VitiGam is an IgG-based product manufactured from the plasma of donors with Vitiligo, a benign skin condition affecting up to 2% of the general population.

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Transtelephonic telemedicine systems provider Aerotel Medical Systems has closed the purchase of Tadiran LifeCare division activities from Tadiran Spectralink, a supplier of wireless communications solutions for critical missions.

Tadiran LifeCare is a developer of innovative wireless monitoring solutions for improving people’s health, safety and quality of life. Its products combine miniature biosensors with wireless technologies in order to provide peace of mind for users, their families and caregivers.

“By integrating new, cutting-edge wireless monitoring technologies into our systems we are expanding our offering in the area of wireless and mobile solutions,” explains David Rubin, Aerotel CEO. “Wireless technologies are becoming essential for next generation cost-effective and on-going monitoring. Tadiran LifeCare products will become part of Aerotel’s growing portfolio of wireless based remote monitoring solutions for homecare and telehealth.”

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Glucose monitoring systems developer Glucon has closed a private financing round led by global venture capital firm 3i plc. Other venture capital funds that participated in this round include: Sequel Venture Partners, Quest Capital Partnership and Hunt Ventures, Aurum Ventures, Giza Venture Capital, MKI, Infinity Venture Capital Fund, and Ascend Technology Ventures. Glucon declined to disclose financial figures for its fifth round, but according to IVC research the Israeli medical device company closed a $25 million round.

This financing round will help bring Glucon’s products to the hospital market. Glucon is continuing the development of its automated blood glucose measurement system for hospitalized patients called Optimus.

“The Glucose Monitoring market is a key focus area for 3i’s healthcare team,” said Klaus Stoeckemann, healthcare partner at 3i. “Glucon’s innovative blood glucose monitoring device promises to transform and improve patient care, shortening hospital stays and freeing up valuable nursing time.”

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Tivit, a provider of sweet, sugar free snacks based on natural and healthy ingredients has launched an original Nature’s Sugar Free snack line for people on low to no sugar diets like diabetics.

Nature’s Sugar Free products are also gluten free, low in sodium and contain no genetically-modified ingredients (GMO). Rich in vitamins, minerals, protein and dietary fibers, Nature’s nutrition snacks are a good source of non saturated fat, and are sweetened with, Maltitol.

“We provide the market with a perfect solution for a healthy, “guilt-free”, natural snack, which comes in a variety of flavors and suits everyone” says Rami Offer, Tivit CEO. “When incorporated into a nutritionally balanced diet, our unique products can contribute positively to a healthy lifestyle living.”

Nature’s Sugar Free makes the perfect snacks for people on the move, who need a quick, satisfying healthy snack, for health-conscious people looking to add a sparkle of sweetness to their diet, for teens whose attempts to eat natural, low fat foods are challenged by unhealthy munchies and for everyone who loves sweets but hates the after-guilt.

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