ILSI-Biomed Israel

Startup Weekly: ProtAb – Antibodies Against Arthritis

ProtAb is a company dedicated to eveloping an antibody for the treatment of Rheumatoid Arthritis and other autoimmune diseases such as Crohn's Disease, and has recently raised $4 million. 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...

Plastics that Distort DNA Readings

A new research reveals that polypropylene tubes can contaminate solutions in the PCR and distort the DNA spectrometer readings. One year ago, a group of researchers at Hadassah-Hebrew University Medical Center in Jerusalem reported a sharp rise in the diagnoses of a certain metabolic disorder. To those of us who live in Jerusalem, fear not. Other than the Holyland story, nothing really happened in the Israeli capital in the last year. The only change is that the lab at Hadassah changed th...

How a $5 Million Grant Paves the Way into Africa – and China

A $5 million grant was given to the Hebrew University for research into Visceral Leishmansis in Africa. Can this be the beginning of a trend? A month ago, a $5 million grant was awarded to the Hebrew University for research into visceral leishmaniasis. This usually fatal illness is all too common in Africa, and is also known there as Kala-Azar – the Black Death, with a 95 percent fatality rate when left untreated and 500,000 cases a year. The generous grant was handed by the Bill & Me...