ISRAEL’S MEDICAL ACHIEVEMENTS
Mutating cancer cells. Scientists at Israel’s Weizmann Institute, working with others in the Netherlands and Norway, have discovered that melanoma cells can “frameshift” to grow whilst avoiding the immune system. The process, however, generates new peptides (short proteins) that scientists can now target with new therapies.
Gastro sensor gets “breakthrough” designation. Israel’s Exero Medical has received Breakthrough Device designation by the US FDA for its implantable biodegradable wireless sensor designed to continuously monitor for gastrointestinal leaks and healing status after surgery.
Covid-19 vaccine progress. The Israeli-developed BriLife Covid-19 vaccine is moving into Phase 2 trials. Hospitals including Sheba and Hadassah will test the vaccine on 1,000 volunteers including seniors and those with previous conditions. Meanwhile rollout of the Pfizer vaccine began – the Israeli PM first to be vaccinated.
One ventilator for 3 patients. Israel’s Yehonatan Medical together with Sheba Medical Center have devised a ventilation system with high-power output and built-in disinfecting mechanism that can treat between three and five patients simultaneously. It includes AI technology for alerting and adjusting to patient responsiveness.
More intelligent Covid-19 treatment. Israel’s Iguazio is to provide Israel’s Sheba Medical Center with clinical, real-time predictive insights from its AI Data Science Platform to help optimize care for Covid-19 patients. Iguazio’s systems will also help Sheba reduce delays in transporting patients.
Doctors arrive to help fight Covid-19. The Israel Experience Doctors’ Program has just brought 50 qualified doctors to Israel to help alleviate the coronavirus crisis. The doctors intend to make Aliya and simultaneously will prepare for Israeli medical licensing. 700 graduates of the program are already working in Israeli hospitals.
UV wavelength Covid-19 discovery. The ability of UV light to kill Covid-19 is well known. However, Tel Aviv University tests show UV with a wavelength of 285 nanometers kills 99.9% of the virus in 30 seconds – nearly as good as UV at 265nm. 285nm UV LED bulbs are cheaper and more readily available than 265nm.
Brain-monitoring app tests for post-Covid symptoms. Israel’s Montfort has enhanced its AI smartphone app that monitors neurological conditions. After six months of trials in Brazil, it now offers a test protocol for patients who have recovered from Covid-19 but still suffer long-lasting effects.
$30 million for emergency department. Philanthropist Sylvan Adams has donated $30 million to fund a new Emergency Medicine department at Tel Aviv’s Sourasky (Ichilov) Medical Center. A similar amount was allocated by the Israeli government. It will take two years to construct and will be the largest ER in Israel.
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
A third of electricity from solar by 2030. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the 2020 Climate Ambition Summit that by 2030 solar energy will provide one third of all Israel’s electricity. It currently generates 10% of power from solar, up from 2% just 5 years ago. By 2025, Israel would cease burning any coal.
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Researchers from TAU Have New Photograph Tech for Moving Objects The new tech from TAU will enable taking photos of race cars, runners, birds in flight, and more.
An inside look at the INCD. The INCD – Israel’s National Cyber Directorate is the government body charged with ensuring that Israel is defended against the myriad of cyber threats that lurk across our networks. It is the Iron Dome equivalent of the cyber world.
First graduates of Quantum SPARK. Five Israeli startups presented their Proofs of Concepts after 3 months in Quantum Hub’s SPARK incubator. They are AutoTrust (vehicle ADAS), ThermoTerra (air-con), IntellAct (airport efficiency), SafeMode (driver safety) and Siraj Technologies (IoT machinery).
Colored sensors to pr.event food waste. Israel’s Evigence develops visual freshness sensors with “smart” chemicals that change color to alert if a product is nearing its expiry date. In Q1 2021, Russia’s largest food retailer, X5 Retail Group, is to pilot the Green Dot label in several of its 910 Perekrestok supermarket stores.
EIT Food Accelerator winner. Israel’s The Mediterranean Food Lab, which develops natural plant-based flavor bases for the alternative meat sector, won the EIT Food Accelerator Network Program with an award of €100,000 ($119,000).
AI to write better reports. Israel’s AI21 Labs has further developed its Artificially Intelligent word text skills into Wordtune. AI21 calls it “a writing companion product, designed to reduce the gap between our thoughts and what we end up writing”. Could be a useful tool for this newsletter editor.
Conserve water and lower bills. Israel’s DrizzleX is a water metering system that detect leaks and overuse for properties sharing a single water meter. They include rental apartments, office buildings, hospitals, educational dormitories and army bases. The article focuses on DrizzleX’s CEO – an orthodox, Jewish grandmother.
The strongest car air purifier. Israel’s Vootto has developed an air filtration system that is 99.9% efficient at removing pollutants, including Covid-19, from moving vehicles. Vootto replaces the vehicle’s air every 5 minutes; it has a 4-stage filtration system, plus, it contains an anti-odor material made from herbs and plants.
Photographing moving objects with no blur. Tel Aviv University researchers have developed a process that enables clear, sharp photography of moving objects without motion blur. Computational photography encodes motion information, and a digital image processing algorithm decodes it to restore the image’s sharpness.
Revolutionizing rice agriculture. Rice sustains half of humanity, but its cultivation uses 30% – 40% of global freshwater and causes 10% of world methane emissions. Israel’s Netafim has just tested drip-irrigation of 2,470 acres of rice fields in Europe and Asia. For the same yield it used 70% less water and caused zero emissions.
Autonomous driving through Munich. Israel’s Mobileye (owned by Intel) has released a one-hour video showing an autonomous car maneuvering its way through the German city of Munich using Mobileye’s camera-based system. It used data crowdsourced from cars, automatically processed into high-definition maps.
Giving customers the answer. When a company’s documentation is in a form that is not very user-friendly, Israel’s Zoomin Software will provide customers and potential customers with easy-to-use search and display facilities. So, they can find exactly what they are looking for without knowing where the documentation is held.
Take back control of application chaos. Israel’s Bionic has developed an application intelligence platform to help companies control complex computer systems. It analyzes applications to deliver a comprehensive systems inventory, architecture and data flows. It then monitors and controls any changes made to production systems.
ECONOMY & BUSINESS
9 Months After It Was Founded Israel’s Wiz Cloud Security Raises $100 Million Wiz was co-founded by the team of the R&D at Microsoft Israel which built the security stack in Azure.
Cleaning a million solar panels in India. Israel’s Ecoppia has won a contract from India’s Azure Power for its robotic solar panel cleaning system to be installed on an estimated one million panels in its latest 450MW project. In the last year, Ecoppia has sold systems for over 10GW of solar projects.
Made in Israel. In a pilot project, Israeli supermarket chains Shufersal, Victory, and Hetzi Hinam are labeling locally produced fruit, vegetables, fish, and meat ‘Israeli agriculture’. Surveys and research show most Israelis want to know the source of their produce and to buy “blue and white products,” i.e., products made in Israel,
Marketing Israeli hi-tech to the UAE. Israel’s Levent develops a customized trading platform enabling banks, investment companies, and traders to produce a trading platform for all their customers without writing code. Levent is partnering Zurich Capital who will promote Levent and other Israeli tech companies to UAE banks.
Incentivize your sales force. Israel’s Incentives Solutions is launching JOOPY Tech, a high-tech version of its incentives and commission planning and management systems. It has been tailored for the complex commission arrangements for compensation and benefits in the high-tech industry.
Share English books in Israel. Maia Dori is a new Olah (immigrant to Israel). She has already set-up a startup called Rebook – an English book subscription service that offers members the opportunity to rent English books on a monthly basis. Many books (fiction and non-fiction) to choose from. Mentioned in the Jerusalem Post.
Protecting data is a billion-dollar business. Israeli-founded BigID uses advanced machine learning and identity intelligence to help enterprises better protect their customer and employee data. BigID has just raised $70 million, giving it a market valuation of $1 billion and the financial industry status of a “Unicorn”.
Israeli partnership for safer journeys. Israel’s Gett and Israel’s Carbyne have partnered to make a safer taxi service, linking Israel’s 10,000 Gett taxis to Carbyne’s 911 gateway. Passengers press a button to provide location details and enable either live video or silent chat to medics, police or the IDF.
Insurance for the digital age. Israel’s At-Bay is one of several Israeli companies addressing the modern-day area of cybersecurity insurance, where companies need to be protected financially against cyberattacks. In addition to providing insurance, At-Bay helps companies improve their IT security.
Investment in Israeli startups: BigID raised $70 million; Hibob raised $70 million; Orca raised $55 million; At-Bay raised $34 million; Noname Security raised $25 million; Zoomin Software raised $14 million; Bionic raised $13 million;
