The Deloitte Technology Fast 50, one of the Israel’s foremost technology award programs, is a ranking of the country’s 50 fastest-growing technology companies based on percentage growth over five years. The Fast 50 program honors business growth, technological innovation and Israel entrepreneurial spirit.

BioView’s automated scanning microscope and image analysis systems perform a wide range of genetic tests based on fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) technology with applications in cancer screening and diagnosis, prenatal and post-natal genetic analysis and minimal residual disease. The BioView instruments help commercial and hospital laboratories provide highly reliable test results to physicians and patients quickly and cost-effectively and also are used in advanced research.

“Because the Deloitte Brightman Almagor Zohar Fast 50 measures sustained revenue growth over five years, being one of the 50 fastest growing technology companies in Israel is an impressive achievement”, said Tal Chen, director in charge of the Deloitte Brightman Almagor Zohar Israel Technology Fast 50 Program. “BioView deserves a lot of credit for its remarkable growth.”

About BioView Ltd.

Established in 2000, and led by an expert team of biologists, software engineers and physicists, BioView develops, manufactures and supplies cell imaging equipment, biological kits and software to medical institutes and universities. BioView is a publicly traded company on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, and currently has strategic collaborations underway with international scientific leaders and institutions.

About Deloitte Technology Fast 50

The Deloitte Brightman Almagor Zohar technology fast 50 annually recognizes and honors the 50 private and publicly-held fastest growing technology companies in Israel, based on percentage revenue growth over a five-year period.

The objective rankings are determined by percentage revenue growth over the last five years. To qualify, companies must own proprietary technology. Participants can be private or public companies operating in any area of technology.

The fast 50 program was initiated in San Jose, the center of Silicon Valley, California in 1995 and quickly became a growth benchmark of success in the USA.

The fast 50 programs supplement the broader Deloitte technology fast 500 initiative in that the winners typically become automatically eligible to participate in the Regional Deloitte Technology Fast 500 program. The program has expanded world wide to incorporate 15 individual programs in the USA alone and in twelve countries and regions. To learn more about the other Deloitte Technology Fast 50 programs please visit the individual Web sites in the list below.

For more information about the BioView technology, and press related issues, please contact info@bioview.co.il or visit www.bioview.co.il.

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Name: ProtAb

CEO: Shira Yair

Sector: Biopharma

Medical Field: Autoimmune Diseases

Est.: 2005

Stage: Late stage pre-clinical, after series A funding

Vision: To develop a novel therapeutics for autoimmune diseases, based on the induction of natural anti-inflammatory mechanisms existing in the body.

ProtAb’s Website

Some people like to do extreme sports: snowboarding, rock climbing or paragliding. Others think those kind of sports aren’t dangerous enough. The latter are the ones that go to the startup business. After all, let’s face it: only a small percentage of the startup companies will ever make the big exit. The rest will dissolve into disappointed entrepreneurs and heartbroken investors.  This is why it is such a pleasure to report on a Israeli startup that actually starts to look like it’s walking the lane towards success. ProtAb’s the name, and autoimmune diseases are its game.

ProtAb, a portfolio company wholly owned by Hadasit Bio-Holdings Ltd, dedicated to developing an antibody for the treatment of Rheumatoid Arthritis and other autoimmune diseases such as Crohn’s Disease, has recently raised $3 million from two of the leading biotechnology investment groups in Israel – Pontifax Fund LP and Clal Biotechnology Industries Ltd, whom will invest $1.5 million each. Hadasit Bio-Holdings itself has invested an additional $1 million in the company.

The idea behind ProtAb’s technology is deceptively simply. Their therapeutic approach is based on simulating a molecule that suppresses inflammation. The company’s first product – Proximab – is a promising monoclonal antibody for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and a wide span of autoimmune inflammatory diseases, including Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) and Psoriasis. Thus far, ProtAb has established preclinical proof-of-concept for Proximab, demonstrating a significant effect in various experimental autoimmune disease models of RA and IBD. Furthermore, ProtAb has successfully completed the humanization of Proximab and evaluation of efficacy both in vitro and in vivo. Advanced preclinical development is ongoing, and is aimed at completion of the development of a CHO manufacturing cell line, on the pathway towards GMP manufacturing, toxicology experiments and initiation of a Phase I/IIA clinical trial in RA.

So – are they on the road to success? The real answer is that nobody can tell yet. However, it seems to me that most start-ups die quite early because of bad management decisions. ProtAb has passed that early stage, and would seem to be backed up by capable management. All that is left now is for them to prove their scientific merit – and perhaps we’ll have another Teva on our hands.

One can always hope, right?

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Post-operative adhesion is considered a major cause of failed back surgery. In up to 15% of cases, patients suffer from pain due to spinal adhesion, or scar tissue formation around the spinal cord, which may require a second surgery for correction. Magen’s flagship device, the SpineShield, uses Magen’s proprietary technology to prevent fibrotic adhesion of the scar to the dura and the nerve root and to reduce related pain and complication risks. The SpineShield is a metal device that physically separates the scar from the delicate spine structures. After healing, the SpineShield is removed during a short minimal invasive out-patient procedure.

Magen initiated its first-in-human, single-center, prospective feasibility study to assess the initial safety and efficacy of the SpineShield implantation for the prevention of epidural scar fibrosis following hemilaminectomy. The study is being held in the Neurosurgery Department of the Bagdasar Arseni Emergency Hospital, Bucharest, Romania. To date, three SpineShield devices have been successfully implanted and removed from three patients. The removal procedure was performed through a minimal invasive 1cm incision. According to initial feedback from patients and physicians, the removal procedure was painless, easy, and took a few minutes only. No complications were reported. An additional seven patients will be enrolled in the study.

Prof. Gorgan, principal investigator of the clinical study, expects “the SpineShield to dramatically reduce fibrosis adhesion observed in post-operative MRI images” and believes that “he will be able to offer his patients a new solution to improve treatment outcome.” Prof. Gorgan adds that “we are very excited and trust that the SpineShield has the potential to change spine surgery practice.”

“This is an important day for us, as it recognizes three years of extensive R&D efforts” says Dr. Shmuel Beck, Magen’s CEO. “We anticipate that this initial clinical study and further clinical research will demonstrate the importance of our ground-breaking anti-adhesion device”.

Dr. Beck adds that “Magen is on track to launch the SpineShield in select EU markets in 2010″ and that “distributors have already been appointed in Turkey, South-Africa, Russia and Israel.” In addition, “the company is developing further product lines based on the same technology for tendon and nerve applications.”

About Magen Medical Solutions Ltd.

Magen Medical Solutions Ltd. is a medical device company founded in Israel in 2007, aimed at developing and marketing unique anti-adhesion devices for orthopedic applications. Its first product, the SpineShield, is CE Marked and will be commercially available in the second half of 2010. Additional products, the TendonShield and NerveShield, will be submitted for regulatory approval in EU during 2010. All products will be submitted for FDA clearance in the future. The company’s technology was invented by Dr. Hamid Sharim, Former Head of the Spinal Surgery Unit at Wolfson Hospital, Israel; patent pending. The company is located in Ramat-Gan, Israel. For more information, visit www.magenmed.com

Taken from ILSI website

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Yissum has announced that, together with the Technion Research and Development Foundation (TRDF), the technology transfer arm of the Technion Israel Institute of Technology, it will exclusively license to Avraham the commercial rights of Ladostigil, a novel cholinesterase, brain-selective monoamine oxidase inhibitor and neuroprotective agent for treatment of Alzheimer’s disease and other neurodegenerative diseases.

The drug has proven to be safe and well tolerated in Phase I/IIa clinical trials. As part of an advanced product development program, Avraham will use the newly invested capital to complete an additional 52-week Phase II proof-of-concept efficacy trial in patients with Alzheimer’s disease.

Ladostigil is a novel compound that was designed to provide a comprehensive medical treatment for Alzheimer’s disease. Like other cholinesterase inhibitors currently on the market, Ladostigil targets symptomatic relief in Alzheimer’s patients. But unlike these drugs, Ladostigil is the first multi-functional drug to reach clinical trials, acting via additional novel mechanisms of action, providing potential to improve the behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia such as depression and anxiety. Ladostigil also has the potential to slow progression of clinical symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease for sustained periods of time and to modify the pathology associated with the disease – and other neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s disease.

The novel drug was envisaged by Prof. Marta Weinstock-Rosin of the Department of Pharmacology, School of Pharmacy at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Prof. Moussa B.H. Youdim of the Eve Top and National Parkinson Foundation Centers of Excellence Rappaport School of Medicine, Technion, Haifa, Israel.

Prof. Weinstock-Rosin’s research at the Hebrew University also led to the discovery and development of Exelon^®, a blockbuster drug for treatment of dementia associated with Alzheimer’s disease as well as dementia in Parkinson’s disease, which was licensed to and is marketed by Novartis Pharma AG. Prof. Youdim’s research at the Technion led to the discovery and development of Azilect^®, a successful new drug for treatment of Parkinson’s disease, which was licensed to and is marketed by Teva Pharmaceuticals.

 Dr. David Warshawsky is the CEO of Avraham Pharmaceuticals.

Taken from ILSI website

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OrSense Ltd., developer of monitors for non-invasive measurements of various blood parameters, announced it has received U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for NBM-200MP, a non-invasive oximetry and low signal oximetry sensor.

Non-invasive pulse oximetry has become a standard of care in the operating and recovery rooms, intensive care units and emergency services, yet it has been known to provide erroneous oxygen saturation readings in situations of low perfusion, low cardiac output and/or low blood flow.

 OrSense’s system offers non-invasive, continuous and accurate measurement of oxygen saturation in states of hypovolemia, hypothermia and vasoconstriction or during open heart surgery, as well as during regular perfusion. The NBM-200MP’s superior performance was validated by multi-center trials in the U.S. and Europe.

“The ability to accurately measure oxygen saturation in states of low perfusion in acute care patients is critical for intensive care units,” said Prof. Pierre Singer, Head of the Intensive Care Unit at Rabin Medical Center in Petah Tikva, Israel. “OrSense’s non-invasive oximeter could be used for accurate, safe and easy to use oxygen saturation evaluation in various hospital wards. Consequently, it will improve patient care and survival, as well as reduce staff workload,” Prof. Singer concluded.

Lior Ma’ayan, CEO of OrSense, said the company is looking forward to the initiation of commercial efforts in the U.S. later this year.”

NBM-200MP continuously and noninvasively monitors and displays multiple blood parameters including oxygen saturation of Hb (SpO2) and low perfusion oximetry. The system permits continuous patient monitoring with adjustable alarm limits for oximetry as well as visible and audible alarm signals. A ring-shaped sensor is fitted on the patient’s finger and applies gentle pressure, temporarily occluding the blood flow. During the occlusion optical elements in the sensor perform sensitive measurement of the light transmitted through the finger. This method, called Occlusion Spectroscopy, provides a quick, accurate and painless measurement of the patient’s blood constituent, while greatly improving patient comfort, eliminating infection risk, and providing the caregiver with superior accuracy and immediate results.

OrSense is a medical device company developing non-invasive monitoring systems for measurements of oxygen saturation, hemoglobin, glucose and other blood parameters. The Company’s FDA approved NBM-200MP is a non-invasive blood oximetry monitor for use in hospitals. OrSense’s non-invasive hemoglobin/hematocrit monitor was granted the CE approval and was tested on over 8,000 patients and donors at 20 sites in the U.S. and Europe. The Company’s products are based on its proprietary Occlusion Spectroscopy technology, which overcomes key obstacles that hinder the performance of competing approaches. OrSense’s CE approved glucose monitor was tested on over 450 diabetic subjects, showing performance similar to those of invasive glucose sensors.

Investors in OrSense are led by Israel Health Care Ventures and STAR Ventures. Other investors include, Carlo Salvi, Tamar ventures, Unicycle, Medison, Lewis Trust Group (LTG) and Shimon Eckhouse, who is also OrSense’s Chairman of the board.

Source: ILSI website

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Name: MGVS Ltd.

CEO: Guy Yachin

Sector: Biotechnology

Suc-Sector: Cell therapy

Medical Field: Cardiovascular

Est.: 2000

Stage: Phase I/IIa Clinical trials

Vision: To become the leader in advanced cell therapy based solutions for cardiovascular patients

Employees: 21 and currently recruiting

At the end of 2009, Science magazine announced genetic engineering as one of the runner-ups for the Breakthrough of the Year. Indeed, it seems that the field of genetic engineering, which was the black sheep of the medical herd since the beginning of the new millennium, is now rising back to the headlines. As it turns out, we have in Israel a company that makes good use of gene therapy as well, and that company is MGVS – Multi Gene Vascular Systems – whose leading (and first) product has passed Phase I/II trial in December 2009.

The star product goes by the name of ‘Multi-Gene Angio’, and is a cell therapy-based product proposed for use in patients with peripheral artery diseases (PAD). The MultiGeneAngio is basically a suspension of endothelial and smooth muscle cells, taken from a vein in the patient’s arm. The cells are expanded and identified properly, and then genetically modified to secrete certain angiogenic growth factors to their surroundings. The cells are injected into blockage spots, and are supposed to encourage the creation of new arteries on the spot, thus relieving cases of ischemia. In January 2010 the company has initiated a dose determining study, which is expected to be the final trial before the pivotal study. It expects its completion by December 2010. MGVS is currently preparing to conduct an additional phase I/IIa study of MGA, this time to treat critical limb ischemia in five leading Israeli medical centers.

The company has a second interesting product, called Multi-Gene-Graft, which has yielded promising results in preclinical trials, has received the FDA IND approval, and the initiation of its Phase I/II testing is scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2010.

Bottom line: It really cheers me up seeing such an advanced Israeli company in the field of cell and gene therapy. Not everyone can do that, but I hope that there will be more successes like this. Assuming that no catastrophes happen (which, of course, is a very hedgy bet even at the best of times), MGVS looks like one of the most promising Israeli biomed companies in the market.

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If there’s one thing I hate it is being locked down to a single path, and being unable to switch lanes. Some of the most successful companies in the market made use of everyday technology to innovate: Facebook, Google and of course Apple. In the field of bio-med, however, I sometimes feel we’re being somewhat narrow minded when it comes to the incredible devices we deal with every day.

Consider an EEG. It is a pretty regular device in the biomedical field, often used to obtain readings of brain activity for medical diagnostic purposes. And now take a look at what Acclair, a company with offices in London and an ongoing research project, has done with it. They are utilizing an EEG device to do a ‘brain fingerprinting’ test to various persons, while exposing them to a series of visual and sonic stimuli, which include security-related events and – surprisingly – artwork. Their objectives are to judge a person, as a sort of an extremely convoluted security test, by the responding electrical pattern that appears on the screen. Alternatively, they’re already making attempts at judging the real value of a piece of art according to the viewers’ brainwaves.

Ridiculous? Maybe. Science fiction? Definitely. To be honest, I’m not even sure just how much real science can be found in their diagnostic algorithms. All the same, it is a new approach for an ancient tool of the industry, and who knows? Maybe these innovative fellows will one day lead the new information revolution using tools obtained from the biomedical field.

Last but not least: If you would like to make contact with them, you might want to try Israeli Eyal Fried, an interactive designer and social researcher, who lectured on Acclair’s behalf in the recent Synthetic Reality conference in Haifa University.

Acclair’s site

A brochure on the company

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Name: Arineta LTD

Founders: Dr. Ehud Dafni and MR.

CEO: Dr. Ehud Dafni

Sector: Medical Devices
Sub-Sector: Imaging
Medical Field: Cardiovascular
Est.: 2006
Stage: Seed

Vision: To make heart CT examination part of the regular treatment that every heart patient receives, thereby leading to earlier diagnosis of heart diseases, better treatment and decline in mortality rate.

Website: http://www.arineta.com/

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death and disability in Israel and other developed countries. In the US alone, more than 1,200,000 people suffer heart attacks each year. Most of them get to a hospital for treatment, and there begins the usual chaos: they are sent from the ER to cardiology, where the doctor promptly sends them onwards to catheterization – an invasive and costly procedure. Typically, 30% – 40% of catheterization procedures turn out to be diagnostic only, without need for therapeutic intervention.

Big waste of money? Perhaps, but it’s not like there are better choices for the cardiologists. Ideally, they would need an imaging device dedicated for heart imaging. A CT (computed tomography) can do that, but currently it is operated only by radiologists, and not many MDs would send a heart patient to stand in line for another department of the hospital. Some will probably never return, if only because of the length of the line and the limited life expectancy of most patients.

Dr Ehud Dafni is dead-fixed on changing the current procedures for treatment of heart patients.  To that end he founded Arineta Ltd in late 2006, together with Mr. Yosi Morik, an experienced businessman and entrepreneur. Arineta’s crew of researchers and engineers is currently developing a new class of cost effective, dedicated cardiac CT scanners, which provide superior imaging performance, and low X-ray dose. According to Dr Dafni, These devices would be relatively cheap and easy to operate, so that each cardiology department could have one of its own. The result: better diagnosis and treatment options for each and every patient, without having to set foot outside the department’s boundaries.

Until now, the money for the development – more than two million dollar – arrived from private investors, who seem confident that this investment will bear fruit. However, as Arineta will be going into the next phase, higher budgets will be needed. Biomed Israel will keep an eye on the young company through its maturation process, and we’ll keep our fingers crossed for them – and for a better heart treatment for all of us!

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Allosterix is taking a novel approach to inhibiting enzymes, by targeting their allosteric sites.

Name: Allosterix LTD

Founders: Dr. Ariel Solomon, Omer Vunsh

Sector: Biotechnology

Suc-Sector: Drug Discovery

Est.: 2006

Stage: Seed

Vision: becoming a primary supplier of potent selective lead compounds to the drug industry.

Site: www.allosterix-pharma.com

Here’s a hypothetical thought experiment: you left your car engine on, and you want to turn it off. The only problem is that you’re currently located in the International Space Station, while your car is safely down on the Earth.

Hey, I said it was a hypothetical experiment, didn’t I?

So what are you going to do? You’re definitely not going to go down to Earth to switch off your car. It’s just too much of a trouble. Instead, you’re going to tell a robot on Earth to do it. The only problem is – how’s the robot going to identify your car, among the many billions of them?

If you take the most common approach to that problem, you’ll choose to focus on the engine – the most important part of the car. Your robot is going to search for all the engines similar to your car’s, and turn them all off. The only problem is that using this approach, plenty of other cars are going to be turned off as well. That’s probably not the best way to get the job done, but that’s how most enzyme inhibitors work now-days. When a certain enzyme in the body needs to be shut off, a drug is designed that can identify the active site of the enzyme – that’s the part of the enzyme where it’s doing its job – and bind to that site and shut off the enzyme. But since many active sites are quite similar to each other, even in different enzymes, the drug is also going to shut off many other useful enzymes as well.

Allosterix is a start-up company established in 2006 and financed by the Chief Scientist office via the technology incubator of Yozmot. This company is taking a different stance on the subject. Instead of trying to focus on the active site of enzymes, they have developed a novel technology platform to identify useful allosteric sites, and build molecules that bind to those unique allosteric sites, and hence, selectively shut down enzyme’s activity. Basically, it’s the same idea as telling your robot to go look only for the correct vehicle registration plate. The only vehicle that will be shut down will be your own.

Allosterix’ first success was proven recently with an enzyme named TACE (TNF alpha converting enzyme). This enzyme takes part in the convoluted process of switching on the inflammatory system in the body, and thus is involved in plenty of auto-immune disorders such as RA (Rheumatoid Arthritis), IBD (irritating bowel’s disease), Crohn’s disease, Psoriasis, Asthma, Septic shock and different types of cancers. In each of the above, the main problem is that the immune system gets out of control and overreacts. To date, the industry has had no success in targeting TACE selectively.  By targeting the allosteric sites of TACE, Allosterix hopes to reduce the activity level of the inflammatory system and restore balance to the body. So far, they’ve managed to design a new molecule and prove its potency, efficacy and selectivity in mice. Currently Allosterix negotiate on investment to begin the full regulative pre-clinical trials.

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Vision: To improve treatment for cancer patients by delivering the drug straight to the tumor, and achieve a more efficient treatment without side effects.

Name: CapsuTech Ltd

CEO: Dr. Eyal Neria

Sector: Pharmaceuticals

Suc-Sector: Natural Materials

Medical Field: Cancer

Est.: 2006

Stage: Pre-Clinical

Vision: To improve treatment for cancer patients by delivering the drug straight to the tumor, and achieve a more efficient treatment without side effects.

Targeted drug delivery is one of the main challenges for pharmaceutical companies. After all, even if you have the best cure for cancer, it won’t do the patient any good if the drug molecules become diluted too much in the blood, or are digested by enzymes on the way to the tumor. Several companies in the biomedical market are trying to find ways around this problem, using various elements to ensure that the drug gets mainly to the infected tissue, and as little as possible to all the rest. CapsuTech is one of those companies in Israel.

CapsuTech Ltd, a company founded in 2006 and based in Nazareth, has a highly focused view on where it’s heading, as may be understood from their unofficial motto: “Our way to deliver your drug”. Their drug delivery technology is based around amino acid polymers modified with cyclodextrins that create molecular pockets. The drug is encapsulated within the molecular pockets and surrounded by the polymer, and in that protective shell is supposed to be protected from damaging factors such as enzymatic degradation, PH changes and oxidation.

One of the proposed uses for CapsuTech’s drug delivery technology is for targeted delivery of chemotherapy drugs to cancer cells. Since collagenases are secreted mainly from cancer cells, the polymer drug-carrier can be designed to include collagen sequences, to be cleaved only in the vicinity of cancer cells. The end result: higher efficacy of the drug in the body, and less side effects. Then again, that’s what everybody in cancer treatment is working on at the moment. So what’s CapsuTech’s status? 

At least at the moment, the company is still in the research stage on cellular and animal systems, and hasn’t gone on to clinical trials yet. It has only five workers, and operates as part of the NGT Incubator in Nazareth with secured research grant from the Office of the Chief Scientist of Israel and the European Seventh Framework Programme. It should be quite interesting to keep track of the company as it develops its product, especially if it manages to reach the clinical trials stage in human beings.

An Explanatory Clip

CapsuTech’s Website

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