In the 5th Apr 2015 edition of Israel’s good news, the highlights include:
- An Israeli biotech is developing safe vaccines using computers and your own cells.
- Israel’s Knesset has completed the largest solar roof for a parliament building.
- 3, 555 Israeli patents were registered in the US in 2014 – a 21% increase on 2013.
ISRAEL’S MEDICAL ACHIEVEMENTS
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Vaccines from your own cells. (TY Nocamels) Israeli biotech SynVaccine is developing safe synthetic vaccines from the recipient’s own tissue cells, which the body’s immune system can easily recognize and build protection. In addition, SynVaccine’s computer-engineered vaccines cannot release the original virus.
Treatment to stop pain. Israel’s Teva has begun a Phase 2b trial of TV-45070 in patients with post-herpetic neuralgia (PHN). TV-45070 inhibits the sodium channels expressed in the pain-sensing peripheral nervous system and can treat patients with various pain indications, including neuropathic and osteo-arthritis pain.
Cause of ovarian failure discovered. Tel Aviv University and Schneider Medical Center researchers have discovered a genetic mutation responsible for Primary Ovarian Insufficiency (POI) that affects one percent of all women worldwide. The study began after DNA testing two affected Israeli-Arab girls.
US journalists see Israeli medical innovations. For the past 10 years, the Murray Fromson American Associates, Ben-Gurion University Media Mission has brought US reporters and editors to see cutting-edge Israeli research at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. This year’s themes included neuroscience, stem cells and medical robotics.
Saving lives of the wounded. A higher percentage of Israelis were seriously or critically injured in last summer’s Operation Protective Edge than in the 2006 Lebanon War. Yet recovery times were faster and treatment much more effective this time, thanks to faster evacuation to hospital and technology to stop bleeding.
Prize for life. Israel’s Prize4Life is funding $1 million prizes for research and treatment for ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease). At Tel Aviv’s BrainTech 2015 conference, every delegate stood up to applaud Prize4Life’s CEO and ALS sufferer Shay Rishoni, who demonstrated a device that translates eye movements into computerized voice.
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Israel’s US water partner. (TY Michelle) Akron Ohio has reached an agreement with five Israeli water technology companies to make Akron the exclusive partner for Israeli water research in North America.
Wastewater award-winner. Israel wastewater treatment company Emefcy won the prestigious award for Excellence in the Field of Environmental Technology Development at CleanEquity Monaco 2015. Emefcy’s CEO and founder Eytan Levy received the award from Monaco’s Prince Albert II.
TaKaDu sponsors UK water conference. Amir Peleg of Israel’s smart water monitoring company TaKaDu is Chairman of the Swan (Smart WAter Networks) Forum and is one of the sponsors of Swan Forum’s Conference entitled “Smart Water: The time is now”, taking place in London on 29-30 April.
Agritech 2015. (TY Michelle) An interesting article on Israeli agricultural technology, plus 4 Israeli “AgTech” companies developing creative solutions for sustainable agriculture. BioFishency, Morflora, Roots and Amitec will feature at Israel’s 19th annual Agritech International Agricultural Exhibition & Conference on April 27.
Knesset’s solar roof is complete. Israel’s Knesset building now has the largest solar field for any parliament in the world. 1, 500 solar panels were installed on the Knesset’s roof, and on those of surrounding buildings, producing 450kw of energy. Phase 1 of Israel’s Green Knesset project also cut paper and water consumption.
Safer, cheaper driving. Israel’s Green Road Technologies sells systems for monitoring real-time driving data, using a smartphone or its own hardware installed in vehicles. The systems raise awareness of safety, save fuel, reduce insurance premiums, motoring costs and accidents. Green Road has just raised $26 million of finance.
How safe is your smartphone? (TY Michelle) Israel’s Skycure offers two main products, a free app that secures mobile devices for consumers and software that keeps companies safe from external mobile devices. Skycure has just raised $8 million of funding.
Basic yet smart. Israeli start-up E2C (Easy to Connect) has developed an interface for smartphones that make them easier for seniors to use. A large display menu, longer response times, vibrating keys, voice activation, simple navigation and a one-click response all make life much easier for the technically-challenged.
Wireless battery charging. (TY Michelle) I featured Israel’sW i-Charge in Sept 2013, and it was recently demonstrated in San Francisco. The infra-red laser transmitters are due to launch in 2016 and cost $50 – $100.
Weizmann wins most Euro research grants. The Weizmann Institute of Science has the distinction of having the top percentage of grants awarded to it by the European Research Council’s 7th Framework Program. Between 2007 and 2013, it had 35 percent of its grants proposals accepted, totaling nearly 150 million Euros.
Lockheed Martin promotes Israeli education. Lockheed Martin and Israel’s Ministry of Education are to build a program in the Israeli education system to increase the number of Israeli teachers in computer science and cyber security. Lockheed Martin will also sponsor a nationwide high-school cyber security competition.
Skiing gets even more exciting. (TY Michelle) I featured the Augmented Reality (AR) ski goggles from Israel’s RideOn in February, but this article includes a video that shows you what you see when you wear them.
A magic touch. MUV Interactive (featured in this newsletter in Sept 2014) was one of Israel’s innovative technology companies starring at the recent AIPAC Conference in Washington. MUV’s $200 “Bird” sits on your finger to control and design interactive presentations, just by pointing. Shipping starts in a few months.
Matching stories to users. (TY Michelle) Israeli startup Keewee uses natural language processing, machine learning and social graphs to provide you with relevant stories. Over 60 brands and publishers use its service, including the New York Times. It has just raised $9.1 million of funds, including from the NYT and Google’s chairman Eric Schmidt.
Huge increase in Israeli patents. (TY Size Doesn’t Matter) According to Israel’s business information group, BDICoface, Israeli companies and entities registered 3, 555 patents in the United States in 2014 – an increase of around 21 percent over the previous year. Israel comes 3rd in the world for patents, after Japan and Taiwan.
ECONOMY & BUSINESS
Analyzing social media for businesses. (TY Michelle) Israel’s Tracx is a social intelligence platform that provides sales, marketing and support teams with social media data to help make their products better suited to potential customers. Tracx’s story of entrepreneurs and innovative hi-tech mirrors that of the Startup Nation.
Israel and China get down to business. The Prime Minister’s Office’s Israel-China task force was launched at the China-Israel Cooperation Conference in Tel Aviv. For the first time dialogue on China combined the business sector, academia and government in order to expand bilateral commercial ties.
Santander backs Israeli startup. (TY Michelle) Spanish bank Santander, via its Innoventures Fund, has invested in MyCheck – the largest mobile payment company in Israel. The product also has the potential to be marketed to Sandander’s 107 million-plus retail and commercial customers across Europe and the Americas.
SolarEdge shines. (TY Michelle) SolarEdge, Israel’s latest company to float on the NASDAQ, raised $126 million and then rose in price from $18 to $22 in the first week. SolarEdge’s innovative products effectively allow solar panels to act independently of each other and thereby increase overall power production.
Teva buys Auspex for $3.2 billion. Israel’s Teva has bought US biotech Auspex for $3.2 billion and acquires Auspex’s portfolio of innovative medicines for people who live with movement disorders. Auspex also has pipeline treatments for Huntingdon’s disease, Parkinson’s, dyskensia and Tourette’s syndrome.
Moovit arrives in Australia. (TY Size Doesn’t Matter) Israel’s Moovit has launched its transportation app in Australia. It already has 200, 000 users after beta trials in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Canberra, Adelaide, Hobart and Perth. Moovit uses crowdsourcing to get you to your destination in the quickest way possible.
Legally share TV clips. (TY Michelle) Israeli-developed Whipclip has launched its TV-sharing app with Comedy Central, ABC, CBS, Fox and other TV networks. Whipclip’s free mobile app lets users create and share 30-second video clips of TV shows and music videos – legally.
Look who’s investing in Israel. (TY Michelle) Horizons Ventures is owned by Asia’s richest man – Li Ka-Shing. Horizons is Israel’s largest foreign startup investor, and was very successful when it invested in Waze.
