Israel Seen provides a useful update on what Israel has done for us lately. It’s a very long list. I’ve had to cut it way down. I was impressed. I think you will be, too.
An Israeli is helping American biotech company, Moderna, produce a COVID-19 vaccine. Teva donated medicine for a US coronovirus treatment trial; Tel Aviv Uni partners with a Swiss biotech to search for a vaccine; Jefferson University links up with 4 Israeli health tech startups; a Jewish paramedic in Israel donated bone marrow to save a US Muslim boy, and Iranians ask Israel for help during the pandemic.
These are some of the medical stories coming out of Israel:
Good progress of Pluristem trial. Seven of the eight critically ill coronavirus patients on ventilators, treated with PLX stem cells from Israel’s Pluristem, survived after 28 days. Only one of those still needed mechanical ventilation – the other five having been discharged from hospital. 10 further patients have now begun treatment.
https://www.pluristem.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/PSTI-28-day-follow-up-FOR-RELEASE.pdf
US Covid-19 vaccine progress. (TY David F) The Israeli Chief Medical Officer of US biotech Moderna reported that company’s mRNA-1273 Covid-19 vaccine successfully produced antibodies on 8 patients. Dr. Tal Zaks received his M.D. and Ph.D. from Ben Gurion University, joining Moderna in 2015.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/talzaks/
https://edition.cnn.com/2020/05/18/health/coronavirus-vaccine-moderna-early-results/index.html
US patent filed for 8 antibodies. The Israel Institute for Biological Research (IIBR) in Ness Ziona has just completed the patent application process for eight new coronavirus antibodies (reported here previously).
https://www.jpost.com/health-science/iibr-files-for-patents-for-8-coronavirus-antibodies-628134
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/280294
Teva donates medicines for US Covid-19 study. Israel’s Teva is donating the medicines for a US study into the effectiveness of a potential combination coronavirus treatment. The study will evaluate whether combining the antibiotic azithromycin and hydroxychloroquine can prevent hospitalization and mortality from COVID-19
Bone-grafting cells may treat coronavirus symptoms. While developing its unique treatment for growing human bone grafts, Israel’s Bonus BioGroup (see previously) discovered MesenCure – a new pneumonia treatment that could help coronavirus patients. A study on animals was successful; human trials are planned.
TAU to search for a Covid-19 vaccine. (TY Hazel) Tel Aviv University (TAU) researchers have partnered with Swiss biotech Neovii to find a vaccine against Covid-19. TAU will use their 2015 patented research into the MERS virus to accelerate their work on Covid-19. https://www.jpost.com/health-science/after-years-studying-coronaviruses-israeli-team-ready-to-develop-vaccine-627882
US approval for vertebrae image analysis. Israel’s Zebra Medical has just received its fifth FDA approval (previous ones reported here) – this time for its Vertebral Compression Fractures (VCF) image analysis product. Zebra’s latest AI solution automatically identifies likely compression fractures from scans.
https://sg.news.yahoo.com/zebra-medical-vision-secures-5th-135200965.html
Results of 10-year Israeli-led gastro study. Dr. Ami Sperber, professor emeritus of Ben-Gurion University, initiated a 10-year epidemiology study of 73,000 patients in 33 countries. It found that over 40% of the world’s population have Disorders of Gut-Brain Interactions (DGBI). The data is vital to gastrointestinal knowledge.
https://www.gastrojournal.org/article/S0016-5085(20)30487-X/fulltext
Israeli Jewish paramedic saved Muslim boy in US. Yisrael Otmazgin, a paramedic with the United Hatzalah organization in Israel and a reservist in the IDF, donated bone marrow to save a Muslim boy in Michigan USA. The boy’s brothers were only a 50% match, but of 44 million registered donors, only Yisrael was a 100%.
Iranians seek Israel’s help to emigrate. (TY UWI) The number of Iranians seeking help from Israel has significantly increased, amid the coronavirus pandemic. Many also want to emigrate to the Jewish State. (See here for previous newsletter articles featuring good relations between Israelis and the Iranian people.)
https://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-sees-dramatic-increase-in-iranians-asking-for-help-emigrating/
UVC lamps to sterilize rooms. (TY UWI) Hadassah hospital’s Dr Boris Orkin has designed an Ultraviolet lamp that kills Covid-19. It is a quick, safe way to sterilize a room previously occupied by an infected patient. The UVC lamp produces no ozone. It is in use at a Bnei Brak hospital and soon at other sites.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQpT3Fkx04M
Ultrasound test for asymptomatic Covid-19 carriers. Patients of the Maccabi HMO can now undergo a special ultrasound test that scans their lungs and detects effects typically caused by Covid-19. “Focus” is a small, portable ultrasound kit. It has detected infected asymptomatic patients that previously tested negative.
Using military tech to save lives. Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) has a huge inventory of Healthcare innovations that were repurposed from military technology. It includes a Covid-19 detection breathalyzer, hospital robots, facemask compliance checks, ventilators, protective equipment, and the supervision “cockpit”.
http://nocamels.com/2020/05/israel-optimized-defense-tech-covid19/
Innovation for urban spaces. Four startups graduated from Highroad Innovation Center’s urban technology launchpad program. Co.ing helps management of community projects. Castory’s construction-tech app detects building defects. Artishok uses AI to improve workspaces and Livv uses AI to replace the real-estate agent.
https://www.calcalistech.com/ctech/articles/0,7340,L-3825036,00.html https://highroad.center/
https://www.superco.co/ https://www.livv.co/
https://castory-ai.com/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6WaLsD2QcNQ
Heading for the stars. Israel Aerospace Industries Ltd. (IAI) together with US-based Starburst Ventures, graduated the first cohort of their joint accelerator (see here). The three teams completed proof of concepts involving robotics, autonomous operation, and artificial intelligence for space and satellite applications.
https://www.calcalistech.com/ctech/articles/0,7340,L-3825591,00.html
Health tech for Jefferson University. In Feb 2019, Philadelphia’s Thomas Jefferson University set up a $1 million fund (see here) for Israeli healthcare technology solutions. 4 Israeli startups won a share – Agamon (AI report analysis), Art Medical (ICU monitoring), Seegnal (medicine risks) and Somatix (AI remote monitoring).
https://www.agamonhealth.com/ https://www.artmedical.com/ https://somatix.com/
https://seegnal.co/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UDkjr4c5yeg
Data communications chips. Israel-based semiconductor manufacturer Xsight Labs is operating in stealth mode. According to the IVC research center, it produces advanced chipsets for the communications market and has received investment funds from both Intel and Microsoft.
https://www.calcalistech.com/ctech/articles/0,7340,L-3822551,00.html
Yet another Israeli antiviral disinfectant. The newsletter has reported (here) several new Israeli disinfectants that can destroy Covid-19. This new one, being developed at Israel’s Technion, will keep the coronavirus at bay with a single spray every few months. Its new polymer breaks down the genetic material of the virus.
In posting only a portion of the items on the original list, I have concentrated on medical – especially coronavirus-connected – advances. I will be surprised (won’t you?) if there is not an Israeli connection – an individual researcher, an academic institution, a company — to those future breakthroughs in diagnostics, disinfectants, therapies, and vaccines.