Newsweek has ranked Sheba Medical Center at Tel Hashomer as the world's 13th best smart hospital in the world. In Israel, the hospital ranks number 1. 

JERUSALEM, Israel – An Israeli pharmaceutical company developing on an oral vaccine for the coronavirus has announced that it produced “promising results” during preclinical tests and could be an effective booster shot for those who have been previously vaccinated.

The vaccine is being developed by researchers at the Galilee Research Institute (MIGAL) and its affiliate company MigVax.

The oral vaccine, MigVax-101, was tested on rats during preclinical trials and triggered a “markedly higher” concentration of antibodies against the coronavirus than rats that received a placebo booster.

The company hopes to begin clinical trials with humans soon and if successful, could result in doses ready for use early next year when the demand for booster shots will increase. MigVax-101 must be refrigerated but doesn’t require the same deep freeze conditions that other vaccines need.

“The results of this trial increase our confidence that our MigVax-101 subunit oral vaccine will make a positive contribution to a world coming to grips with the new post-pandemic reality,” commented Prof. Itamar Shalit, MigVax’s Infectious Disease Expert.

“Fifteen months into the pandemic, we now see that the struggle to keep Covid under control is nearly as challenging as getting it under control to begin with. Oral boosters such as our MigVax-101 will be key enablers that will help health organizations the world over transition from ‘panic mode’ to routine, due to their ability to reduce the cost and expand the reach of ongoing vaccination programs.”

Israeli company Inovytec won a Smart Cities Connect Smart 50 Award for its implementation of the SALI first-aid system in Marburg, Germany.

The automated emergency care device has also been deployed in Romania and Israel.

When someone experiences a cardiac or medical emergency in a public area where SALI is available, any bystander can open the case and place the patient’s head on an integrated headrest. A video screen inside guides the bystander by providing basic first aid and attaching tools for non-invasive airway management, automated oxygen therapy, vital monitoring, and defibrillation.

SALI automatically connects to an emergency dispatch center, enabling interactive instruction from a medical professional and real-time transmission of vital signs.

A study of the implementation in Germany found that SALI reduced the time to first medical treatment by six minutes and 12 seconds. This time can be critical for improving outcomes.

SALI was also placed in 240 supermarkets and 140 public areas in Bucharest as part of a national emergency healthcare services project in Romania.

“SALI helps cities create connected safe zones within which people are significantly more protected in emergency situations,” said Inovytec CEO Udi Kantor. “It empowers community members to be responsible for one another and take action before the arrival of the emergency response team.”

In the framework of the partnership, defense technologies will be converted into medical ones   

The Soroka Medical Center and Israel Aerospace Industries have signed an agreement to establish an innovation center for development of medical technologies and conversion of developments in the defense field into ones for the medical field.  

The goal of the joint innovation center by IAI's subsidiary ELTA and the Soroka Medical Center is to serve as an incubator of ideas for development of medical equipment. The ideas will be the fruit of dialogue between doctors from the medical center, who will specify the medical and engineering needs, and IAI engineers who will examine technologies that will serve as engineering solutions based on the technological capabilities and engineering manpower at the company. A joint steering committee will select the initiatives that will be carried out at the joint innovation center. 

As part of the mobilization by IAI and the Defense Ministry's Directorate of Defense Research & Development following the outbreak of COVID-19 in Israel, and along with the establishment of a ventilator production line, the company developed many technologies to assist the medical establishment that resulted in fruitful cooperation with Soroka Medical Center. 

The cooperation led to the development of the "cockpit" system enabling the collection of data on ventilated COVID-19 patients in a single location while providing a complete picture of the situation of the patients. The use of IAI's artificial intelligence technologies enables the system to provide early warning of the deterioration of the patents' situation, and by doing so, facilitates the timely provision of resources for those patients.  

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Israeli researchers from Bar Ilan University have boosted the life expectancy of mice by 30% with the aim of eventually replicating this in humans. This means that a 90-year-old person could live until nearly 120. Wow!

Tonight on the Startup Nation Daily Show we're introducing you to Eximore! A medical tech initiative to assist Glaucoma patients with drug intake. Watch:

Nerivio is the first smartphone-controlled wearable for the treatment of acute migraine.

The Nerivio therapeutic wearable for treating migraine pain won the “Best New Technology Solution for Pain Management” award in the fifth annual MedTech Breakthrough Awards program that attracted more than 3,850 nominations from 17 countries.

Nerivio is made by Netanya-based Theranica, a prescribed digital therapeutics company developing advanced electroceuticals for migraine and other pain conditions.

The FDA-approved device uses remote electrical neuromodulation to activate the body’s native conditioned pain modulation mechanism to treat headache and other symptoms associated with migraine. The treatment is personalized through the Nerivio app (iPhone and Android), which also includes an interactive migraine diary to track treatment sessions and symptoms.

“Migraine is the third most prevalent disorder in the world and affects approximately 1 billion people,” said James Johnson, managing director, MedTech Breakthrough, an independent market intelligence organization that recognizes the top companies, technologies and products in the global health and medical technology market.

“Nerivio addresses this challenging condition by encompassing the best elements of MedTech solutions, including a true digital health non-invasive treatment approach that deploys an innovative mechanism of action and an accompanying app that controls the device while enabling patients to track and manage their migraines,” he said.

The 6-year-old girl is in the Tel-Aviv hospital Ichilov after undergoing a bone marrow transplant for the past month,
also during Operation "Guardian of the Walls". The incident came to light after a few days after the defense minister announced that aid to the Gaza Strip would be limited to humanitarian matters only.

The Nerivio therapeutic wearable for treating migraine pain won the “Best New Technology Solution for Pain Management” award in the fifth annual MedTech Breakthrough Awards program that attracted more than 3,850 nominations from 17 countries.

Nerivio is made by Netanya-based Theranica, a prescribed digital therapeutics company developing advanced electroceuticals for migraine and other pain conditions.

The FDA-approved device uses remote electrical neuromodulation to activate the body’s native conditioned pain modulation mechanism to treat headache and other symptoms associated with migraine. The treatment is personalized through the Nerivio app (iPhone and Android), which also includes an interactive migraine diary to track treatment sessions and symptoms.

“Migraine is the third most prevalent disorder in the world and affects approximately 1 billion people,” said James Johnson, managing director, MedTech Breakthrough, an independent market intelligence organization that recognizes the top companies, technologies and products in the global health and medical technology market.

“Nerivio addresses this challenging condition by encompassing the best elements of MedTech solutions, including a true digital health non-invasive treatment approach that deploys an innovative mechanism of action and an accompanying app that controls the device while enabling patients to track and manage their migraines,” he said.

Since being launched, Nerivio has treated more than 100,000 migraines in over 14,000 patients, by prescription.

“A true advancement in digital health, Nerivio is changing the traditional migraine treatment paradigm and will continue to positively impact patients, by providing pain relief and enabling people get back to life,” said Alon Ironi, CEO and cofounder of Theranica.

Israeli workwear management company Polytex Technologies has expanded its automated uniform dispensers in the Spanish market.

Hospitals and healthcare providers in Madrid and Barcelona are rolling out Polytex’s workwear vending machines in order to fight Covid-related contamination, cut costs and maximize efficiency.

Spain is Polytex’s fourth largest market after Israel, the United States and Germany.

Some 3,000 Polytex machines are now installed in 20 countries in North America, Europe and Asia. Workers swipe a card on the front of the machine to access fresh work clothes without human interaction. Uniforms are delivered in sealed units and can only be opened by laundry professionals for collection and restocking. Polytex’s centralized cloud-based management system monitors the turnover and inventory.

The system “allows medical staff to change unforms faster, often many times a day, without fear of contamination,” Polytex CEO Yariv Matzliach shared.

The first Polytex hands-free scrubs dispenser was installed at Sheba Medical Center’s rehab unit in 2019. Sheba today has 20 stations serving more than 4,500 doctors, nurses and lab technicians.

Polytex sales in Spain nearly doubled in 2020 as Covid-19 increased concern about hygiene and cleanliness. In 2021, Polytex signed contracts with new customers including La Fundación Puigvert in Barcelona and Covid-19 treatment centers in Vall d’Hebrón and Bellvitge Hospitals in Catalonia.

Beyond hospitals, a Polytex workwear dispenser was installed at a subsidiary of H&T Presspart (a specialist in drug-delivery systems and pharmaceutical components) in Tarragona. Further north in Spain, Servicio Navarro de Salud, a government agency servicing several hospitals, is adopting the Polytex system. Finally, Polytex is coming to Laboratorios Echvarne, a diagnostic testing center with facilities throughout Spain.

“Hospitals were the first to adapt our solution and they continue to do so at a rapid pace as a result of the pandemic, but we are also witnessing growing interest from other segments of the health care sector in Spain,” Matzliach said.

Polytex customers around the world include major brands including GM, Marriott, Phillips, Sheraton and Roche.

Polytex was established in Israel in 2003 by the Poliner family. Tomer Poliner served as the company’s CEO until Polytex received a major investment in 2019 from the private equity fund Fortissimo Capital. The company is based in Hadera.

Tonight on the Startup Nation Daily Show Daphne of Ophtalmic Innovation group invites you to their upcoming summit next month. In this summit there will be more than 40 Israeli startups focused on blinding inflammatory diseases. 

Starup Nation Daily Show

May 24th, 2021

Today's episode features OIS, the international Ophthalmology Innovative Summit, that will take place in Israel on June 10th.

The body’s mechanism for healing wounds is quite miraculous.

The wound bleeds. The blood coagulates and forms a clot. The clot sends a biologic signal triggering a cascade of actions that protect against infection and bring blood cells bearing materials to build new tissue in place of the damaged tissue.

Usually, this amazing process happens underneath the scab that forms over a wound and it’s all over pretty quickly.

But many people have chronic, nontraumatic injuries that never heal. These wounds form too gradually to set off the signal and not enough blood flows to the site.

ActiGraft, invented in Israel, is a unique wound-care product – a blood clot that healthcare providers produce in just 12 minutes from a vial of the patient’s whole blood mixed with a special reagent inside a coagulation mold.

Applied on the wound, this newly created blood clot jumpstarts the natural protecting and healing process that failed to begin before.

“ActiGraft tricks the body into thinking this chronic wound is a new wound that it needs to start healing,” says Alon Kushnir, CEO of RedDress, the company he founded to develop this one-of-a-kind device with his father, physician and medical device inventor Dr. IgalKushnir.

The ActiGraft kit, containing everything needed for the bedside treatment, has FDA and CE clearance and is sold in the United States and 15 other countries including Israel.

Healing instead of amputation

“The first market we got FDA clearance for is untreatable diabetic foot ulcers. All our studies were done on these types of wounds,” Kushnir explains.

“There was one woman whose toes were amputated but the wound wouldn’t heal. She was hospitalized for four months and was scheduled for a further amputation when we stepped in. After less than two and a half months, she walked home.”

RedDress has published studies outlining cases with similar results.

“Our marketing strategy is to ask physicians for the worst wounds they gave up on. Those are the ones we want to treat,” Kushnir says.

“I got a call from a physician in Italy recently about a diabetic ulcer he’d been treating for 12 years. ActiGraft healed it completely in five weeks.”

The treatment can be repeated once a week until the wound heals. Even the first application eases pain and starts the process.

“I was impressed with the … consistent improvement in wound healing week to week with ActiGraft,” said Dr. Claire Shernoff of Melrose Surgical Associates in Massachusetts. “Another benefit was the significant decrease in pain my patients reported early in their treatments.”

Similar testimonials are coming into RedDress from doctors and patients in several countries.

“We solve a problem that cannot be solved by any other technology, and we can teach the procedure to the healthcare provider via Zoom in 20 minutes,” Kushnir shared.

He notes that people often die from chronic ulcers because they get infected easily, while amputation decreases life expectancy by an average five years. It’s therefore no exaggeration to say that ActiGraft can save lives.

From burns to chronic wounds

“In 2009, my father was managing an eldercare home and came up with a treatment where he’d coagulate a patient’s blood into sheets, freeze it and place it on burns during the first 10 days when you want to reduce pain and the possibility of infection,” Kushnir relates.

“I looked at this from the business side and I saw that burns are a very small market. I said, ‘Maybe your idea can be viable for chronic ulcers.’ So we tried it in a nursing home with Dr. Doron Garfinkel,” a well-known Israeli geriatrician and palliative care physician.

“Within two months, we knew we had something game-changing,” Kushnir says. (Results of this study were published here.)

RedDress was a side gig for the Kushnirs until 2017, supported by investments from friends and family as the father and son tweaked the technology.

“Once we understood what we had, we went to the FDA and that was the trigger to start the company and leave our other work,” he says.

The company will next target nondiabetic chronic wounds, which include venous, pressure and post-surgical ulcers.

“I endorse Actigraft as it uses the body’s own healing cascade to help initiate the wound healing process and has a unique role as a topical dressing in the wound-care space,” said Dr. Bryan Doner of D&P Medical Group in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, a practice specializing in wound care, hyperbaric medicine, clinical research.

In Israel, RedDress expects its products to be available in all four national HMOs by June following successful trials. In countries such as the United States and Germany, reimbursement and insurance coverage are in place for ActiGraft.

Source: Israel 21c

Tonight on the Startup Nation Daily Show, we're introducing you to Fertigo, an Israeli company to improves women fertility and achive conception. The video demonstrates how it works. Watch:

An Israeli pediatric hematologist-oncologist believes immunology is the key to diagnosing and treating many cases of autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

Dr. Benjamin Gesundheit readily admits it sounds crazy to treat a neurodevelopmental condition the way one might treat cancer.

Yaky Yanay, CEO & President of Israeli regenerative medicine company Pluristem Therapeutics, urged this week his employees to spread the word about their successful integration in the workplace between Jews and Arabs.

“Tell your friends on the phone, on the internet, about your Jewish friend that you really love, tell your friends about the Arab friend who works with you on the team,” the biotech firm chief wrote in an email.

“[Tell them] that you live together, eat together and dream together. Tell about your employees, your managers, your friends. Tell our story.”

The translated email from Yanay, which captures an emerging spirit of hope and coexistence, was originally aimed at his staff, but is now circulating among Israeli and American friends and families of employees.

His diverse team, situated in the mixed city of Haifa, is comprised of Jewish, Muslim, Christian, and Druze scientists and researchers.

Pluristem is developing a 3D technology platform that uses placental cells to develop therapies for conditions such as inflammation, muscle injuries, hematological disorders and exposure to radiation.

The multicultural, multilingual company has partnerships with the US Department of Defense and the National Institutes of Health and NASA. It also works with the Abu Dhabi Stem Cell Center in the United Arab Emirates, sharing research results, samples and equipment.

“We will all be here tomorrow, next week as well. We have nowhere to go but to learn to live and love each other,” the email concluded.