Statistical reports prepared by the Israeli Chief Scientist office towards the ILSI – Biomed Israel 2011 Week, which will open in Tel Aviv next week (May 23-25, 2011), show that the Chief Scientist helped support life science projects in Israel, with NIS 430 million in 2010. Avi Hasson, the Chief Scientist, will speak at the conference at the opening of the day devoted to young biomed companies.

10 more years!

Of the NIS 430 million of support funds, NIS 49 million were given to pharmaceutical development; NIS 173 million to biotechnology, and NIS 209 million to medical equipment. In all, the R&D Committee of the Chief Scientist Office considered 338 project applications from 193 companies, of which 265 projects were approved, representing a total R&D budget of NIS 701 million. This is 10.5% less than the State support given to life science R&D in 2009, the sector’s record year of the past decade. However, the bio technology sector benefited from increased grants with NIS 4 million more that in 2009.

The figures also reveal that State support of life science innovation of the past years has been ranging between 30% in 2007 to 28.1% in 2010, a significant increase from 14% in 2000 and 22% in 2003.

Commenting on the figures, Hasson said Israel’s outstanding excellence centers in the academy, combined with entrepreneurial spirit and technological life science capabilities results in Israel being positioned as a significant life science player on a global level. “Israel is unique in combining life science with additional areas, such as nanotechnology, intelligent materials and advanced electronics,” said the Chief Scientist.

Hasson pointed out the Chief Scientist office is committed to continued support for the life science sector, with life science companies benefiting from a preferred status regardless of the stage in their evolution. “With our support, more companies were able to reach advanced stages of clinical development in recent years,” he said.

The chief scientist noted in this context, the recently-announced win of OrbiMed Advisors of the tender to establish dedicated life science R&D funds in Israel. “When an international company mobilizes USD 160 million, which is more than twice than the minimum required to bid in the tender, this is the best evidence of the trust the global capital market places in the Israeli life science industry and its technological and commercial potential for economic growth.”

2011 marks the 10th anniversary of ILSI Biomed Israel 2011 Week. Over the past decade, it has grown into an international conference hosting the biggest (and hottest) names of the biotechnology, pharmaceutical and medical instrumentation industries. The conference organizers, the Israel Life Science Industry (ILSI), and Kenes Congress Group, expect more than 1,000 overseas guests to join thousands of local bio-pharma and medical instrumentation executives, scientists, researchers, entrepreneurs, opinion leaders, VC fund managers and private investors who confirmed their participation at the Conference.

About ILSI Biomed Israel 2011

The ILSI Biomed Israel 2011 is the central annual event of Israel’s life science industry. It consists of an international professional conference, targeted at the best experts and executives from bio-pharma and medical instrumentation companies, as well as scientists and researchers, entrepreneurs, opinion leaders, VC fund managers and private investors from Israel and abroad. The adjoining exhibition displays the most recent innovations of these areas. With the years, ILSI Biomed Israel 2011 has won international acclaim and is considered today as the second largest conference of the life science industry after the USA. It will be held from May 23rd to 25th at the David Intercontinental Hotel in Tel Aviv.

Visit the conference website at http://www2.kenes.com/biomed/pages/home.aspx

Tweet

Share on Facebook

• At least 3 years experience as a scientific project manager in a biotech or pharmaceutical company
• Proven experience in leading pre clinical activities including animal models of infectious or inflammatory diseases.
• Experience in in-vitro models including assay development is a plus
• Experience working in international environment
• Ability to lead multiple scientific projects in parallel
• Creative thinking
• Ability to present scientific data at meetings
• Excellent communication skills: verbal and writing
• Must be fluent in English
• Background education: Ph. D degree in life sciences

Please contact Dan Teleman at dant@atoxbio.com

Tweet

Share on Facebook

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.

Tweet

Share on Facebook

תאור המשרה
————————
לסטרט אפ בתחום הביוטכנולגיה דרוש מנהל פיתוח

דרישות המשרה
————————
אנגלית ברמה ניסיון קודם כמנהל פיתוח בתחום רלוונטי בלבד
ניסיון בפיתוח תהליכים
ניסיון קודם בסביבת ייצור
ניהול של בן אדם אחד אבל יגדל בהמשך.

דרישות נוספות
————————
- יכולת למידה גבוהה
- יסודיות
- דומיננטיות
- יכולת הובלה
- הנעה פנימית ומוטיבציה
- יצירתיות
- יוזמה
- סדר קפדנות וניקיון
- הנעה פנימית ומוטיבציה
- רהיטות
- (יכולות ניהול (זמן\פרויקטים
————————
היקף המשרה: משרה מלאה
דרג ניהולי: ניהולי

קו”ח יתקבלו בברכה במייל :
———————————
medical@biolink.co.il
בציון מספר המשרה 8735#
אנא ציינו שהגעתם דרך לינקדאין.

או באתר החברה:

http://www.biolink.co.il

Tweet

Share on Facebook

BIOINFORM. For the Bio industry

This brand new magazine seems to be very promising since it helps the bio-community to be updated with the floating news in this industry and understand each other researchers and advance local and global collaboration. In BioInform one can find personal columns written by senior scientists , the favorite topics that involve stem cell research, Genetics, Neurology, a patent attorney that introduces us the patent world in biology and the wide legal aspects that stand behind it and all in all uses an economic approach that gives a sense of what is the true status of this industry and even runs a trivia section and a technological section for commercial advantages of the ever changing market.

The magazine is delivered for free at the different laboratories and biological facilities.

Share on Facebook

10 more years!

Yes. It is about time to open your calendars and write down the next date: May 23-25 2011. ILSI-BioMed Israel 2011, that is.

The 10th international Life Science & Technology Week is just around the corner. Time do flies… The event follows the highly successful 2010 BioMed conference which attracted more than 6000 participants from 51 countries. What an event!

ILSI-BioMed 2011 will present high-quality program, featuring top-notch industry executives. Israel’s most innovative medical device and BioPharma entrepreneurs, major pharmaceutical companies, life science research leaders, policy makers and internationally prominent industry investors and the 4th international Stem Cell meeting.

Share on Facebook

In people with longstanding type 2 diabetes who are at high risk for heart attack and stroke, lowering blood sugar to near-normal levels did not delay the combined risk of diabetic damage to kidneys, eyes, or nerves, but did delay several other signs of diabetic damage, a study has found.  The intensive glucose treatment was compared with standard glucose control.

These findings are from the NIH-funded Action to Control Cardiovascular Risk in Diabetes (ACCORD) trial.  Although intensive treatment produced some beneficial changes, this approach was reported in 2008 to increase death rates. 

The new ACCORD findings appear June 29, 2010 in The Lancet’s special online diabetes issue, coinciding with a presentation of the study results at the American Diabetes Association’s 70th annual scientific sessions in Orlando.

Over time, diabetes damages the small blood vessels of the eyes, nerves, kidneys and other organs, leading to pain and disability.  Heart disease due to damaged large blood vessels is a major cause of death in persons with type 2 diabetes. The longer a person has diabetes, the greater the chances of serious complications, including vision loss and blindness, foot ulcers and amputations, kidney disease and kidney failure, and heart disease and stroke.

“In these ACCORD participants with established type 2 diabetes and additional risk factors for cardiovascular disease, intensive lowering of blood glucose reduced some markers of eye, nerve and kidney disease compared with standard glucose control, but the groups did not differ in the rate of progression to kidney failure, nerve disease, and major vision loss,” said lead author Faramarz Ismail-Beigi, M.D., Ph.D., of Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland. 

The ACCORD clinical study compared the effect of intensive control of blood sugar, blood pressure, and blood lipids to standard, less-intensive treatments on the risk of major cardiovascular events in more than 10,000 adults with established type 2 diabetes.  The study’s intensive glycemia arm was halted in February 2008 due to excess deaths in that group.  At that time, participants in the intensively treated group were moved to standard glucose control.

At enrollment, ACCORD participants averaged 62 years of age and were obese.  In addition to having type 2 diabetes for an average of 10 years, about one-third had pre-existing heart disease, and the remainder had at least two additional cardiovascular disease risk factors. They also had high blood sugar, as measured by the hemoglobin A1C test, which shows average blood sugar in the preceding two to three months.  Half of participants had an A1C over 8.1 percent— above the currently recommended target for good control.   A1C values in people without diabetes are less than 6 percent.

Previously reported results showed that over about three-and-a-half years of follow up, participants in the intensive blood sugar group had a 22 percent higher risk of death (5 percent versus 4 percent) and a three times higher risk of seriously low blood sugar (10.5 percent versus 3.5 percent) compared with participants in the standard blood sugar control group.

A secondary goal of the ACCORD blood sugar trial was to determine the effects of near-normal glucose control compared with standard control on microvascular, or small blood vessel, damage to organs and tissues.  Earlier, well conducted clinical trials in patients with newly diagnosed type 1 and type 2 diabetes had proven lowering blood sugar levels reduced eye, nerve and kidney disease.  ACCORD builds on this earlier data by studying benefits of further reduction of glucose to targets near normal, and by studying participants with long-standing rather than newly diagnosed diabetes.

In ACCORD, the A1C target for the intensively treated group was less than 6 percent, a level seen in adults without diabetes and significantly lower than the levels tested in earlier trials.  The goal for standard control was an A1C of 7 to 7.9 percent, an average range achieved by individuals treated for type 2 diabetes in the United States.  Both groups were treated with Food and Drug Administration-approved diabetes medications, as prescribed by their study clinician.

Eye, nerve, and kidney complications in the two groups were compared after 3.7 years, when intensive control was halted, and again at the study’s end after 5 years.  When intensive glucose treatment was halted in the group receiving such treatment, half those participants had an A1C of 6.4 percent or lower, which rose to 7.2 percent at study end.  In the standard treatment group, that A1C measure was 7.5 percent, rising to 7.6 percent by the end of the study.

The treatment groups did not differ in the rate of progression to kidney failure, major vision loss, or advanced peripheral neuropathy, a common nerve problem in diabetes that usually begins as tingling or numbness in the feet.  However, people in intensive control had less deterioration in a vision test, and 20 percent fewer cataract surgeries compared with those in standard control.  They also had a 30 percent lower rate of protein leakage in the urine, a sign of kidney disease and increased risk of heart disease.  Testing for vibratory sensation, an indicator of nerve health, showed no difference between the groups, but the intensively controlled group scored better on other nerve tests. 

ACCORD is continuing follow-up to assess whether the early changes seen in this study will result in differences in blindness, nephropathy and neuropathy. “The study had a relatively short time period – 3.7 years – to see significant differences in serious complications.  Diabetes is a chronic disease, and prevention of complications should be measured over many years,” said Ismail-Beigi.

The effects of intensive blood sugar control on vision are consistent with findings from the ACCORD Eye Study, which explored the effects of intensive treatments on progression of diabetic retinopathy in a subset of about 3,000 ACCORD participants. The most common cause of vision loss in working-age Americans, diabetic retinopathy is a disease in which blood vessels in the eye’s light-sensitive retinal tissue are damaged by diabetes. Intensive blood sugar control was found to be beneficial in retarding the progression of diabetic retinopathy.

“ACCORD provides important data on the risks and benefits of intensive glucose control in people with established type 2 diabetes,” said Susan B. Shurin, M.D., acting director of the NIH’s National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI).  “Although increasing treatment to try to achieve near-normal blood sugar provides some benefit, clinicians and patients should note that this treatment strategy also potentially increases the risk of adverse effects in patients with additional risk factors for heart disease, such as those studied in ACCORD.” 

“Earlier landmark trials have proven that intensive glucose control early in the course of diabetes provides long-term benefits in reducing microvascular complications.  ACCORD fills an important gap by studying adults with diabetes later in the disease and examining even more stringent glucose control than that previously proven beneficial,” said Judith Fradkin, M.D., director of the Division of Diabetes, Endocrinology, and Metabolic Diseases of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK).  “This new information will help tailor therapy for individuals with long established diabetes who are at high risk of cardiovascular events or already have cardiovascular disease.” 

About 24 million people in the United States have diabetes. It is the main cause of kidney failure, limb amputations, and new onset blindness in adults and a major cause of heart disease and stroke. Type 2 diabetes, which accounts for up to 95 percent of all diabetes cases, becomes more common with increasing age.  It is strongly associated with obesity, physical inactivity, family history of diabetes, history of gestational diabetes (diabetes that occurs during pregnancy), and impaired glucose metabolism, and it is more common in minority groups.  The prevalence of diagnosed diabetes has more than doubled in the last 30 years, due in large part to the upsurge in obesity and aging of the population.

The NHLBI is the primary sponsor of ACCORD, with additional funding and scientific expertise contributed by the NIDDK. Other components of the NIH — the National Institute on Aging and National Eye Institute — as well as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, supported sub-studies. The following companies provided study medications, equipment, or supplies: Abbott Laboratories, Amylin Pharmaceutical, AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals LP, Bayer HealthCare LLC, Closer Healthcare Inc., GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals, King Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Merck & Co., Inc., Novartis Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Novo Nordisk, Inc., Omron Healthcare, Inc., Sanofi-Aventis U.S., and Takeda Pharmaceuticals Inc.

Source: NIH News

Share on Facebook

Following the opening words of the event’s organizers, ILSI and Kenes, the president of Israel Shimon Peres came up to the stage and surveyed the future of Israel, which will be based on advanced technologies and serve as an example to the entire world. In his own words, “Israel should become an international lab.” Amen to that.

Neither did the following opening keynote lecture disappoint. Sanofi-Aventis, the multinational pharmaceutical company and the world’s fourth-largest by prescription sales, has presented its new view of developing new products. The lecturer divided the pharmaceutical market into two distinct sections: the small biotechnology companies, and the large business companies. The first kind is usually headed by innovative and creative scientists whose expertise is thinking outside the box. They have good ideas, but they lack the experience needed to break through in the market. That’s what the big pharma companies do exceptionally well: they have all the experience and knowledge needed to succeed in the market, but they lack the ground-breaking minds that can be found in the smaller companies.

The solution, according to Sanofi-Aventis, lies in collaboration. Well, that didn’t require a genius to figure out. Then again, such a collaboration is not easily brought about. On the one hand, the employees of the large companies view themselves as superior to those from the smaller companies. On the other hand, the scientists in the small companies treat their projects as their own personal babies, and refuse to accept criticism and ideas for change. All the same, Sanofi-Aventis is determined to bring about fruitful collaborations between the Davids and the Goliaths of the world. To that purpose, they have cut down their portfolio by 40%, and rewired all the human resources and money that became available into new projects, with a core of efficient and competent employees who collaborate with a variety of other companies.

The end result: since 2010, sixty percent of the compounds in Sanofi-Aventis’ portfolio are developed via collaborations. Such collaborations can also promote projects that integrate knowledge and expertise from different fields, such as glucose sensors connected directly to an insulin pump, or robotic hands that connect to the nervous system.

Let us all hope that this trend – collaboration in place of a take-over – will become more common, and will bring about the development of novel technologies and products more efficiently and in a shorter amount of time.

Share on Facebook

The purpose of the visit is to examine potential collaboration between the visitors and the new initiative in the Negev, BGU being one of the partners in the project. Prof. Rivka Carmi, president of the university, places a great amount of value in the initiative, which can be directed to promote the fields of life sciences and biotechnology in the area.

“Bio-Negev was founded so as to classify the Negev as an international center for the biotechnology and life sciences industry.” Says Dr. Shay Yarkoni, Bio-Negev’s CEO and chairman of the advisory board of the export institute in the life sciences field. Yarkoni, a medical doctor and a senior manager in the biotechnology industry, has emphasized that Bio-Negev is today the only cluster from Israel that is also a partner of the steering committee of the European CEBR, and that it will integrate resources and existing abilities (academic, clinical and industrial) and will act towards the establishment of industrial foundations in the area and serve as an epicenter that will attract monetary, organizations, management and human resources to the Negev.

Source: Ben-Gurion University’s press release

Share on Facebook

Stem cells are often viewed as the ultimate solution for regenerative medicine, and for a good cause. Given the correct cues, they can regenerate whole parts of the body, and even re-create an entire embryo (although that would require QUITE some understanding of the cues involved in the process). It seems, however, that now a new use has been found for them, as seek-and-destroy missiles against cancer.

The reason this just might work is that stem cells are attracted towards cancer cells. Why? We don’t know. Some say that they respond to the same factors that cause a tumor to invade a healthy tissue. Be it as it may, a team of researchers from the Beckman Research Institute in California used genetically engineered stem cells to combat a form of cancer in the brain. The cells produced an enzyme called cytosine deaminase, which converted a drug called 5-fluorocytosine (5-FC) into its active, chemotherapeutic form.

The engineered stem cells were injected into the brains of mice with glioma – a deadly brain cancer. The mice also received 5-FC, which turned into the chemotherapeutic form mainly at the sites the stem cells were at. The tumors’ mass was reduced by a whopping 70% compared with the untreated animals.

As reported in New Scientist, the US FDA granted the researchers “approval to carry out a safety trial of the therapy in up to 20 patients with recurrent glioma, for whom life expectancy is just three to six months. The stem cells will be injected into the tumour cavity following surgery to reduce its mass, and then given four days to home in on any remaining cancer cells. Patients will then be treated with daily 5-FC for one week.”

The stem cells used in the research do not seem to differentiate, and stop proliferating after 48 hours, which should ensure they won’t create yet another cancer in the body. Hopefully, the clinical trials will end well and the researchers will head to phase II soon after. In the meantime, we’ll have to settle for hearing more about cancer and stem cells at the ILSI-BioMed week 2010, where a Technology Transfer Session will be held on the subject of Pharmaceuticals and Stem cells, moderated by Dr. Sylvie Lauria, the Technology Transfer Office of Sheba Medical Center.

Source: New Scientist

Share on Facebook