Teva Pharmaceutical Industries launched its generic version of Forest Laboratories’ Lexapro, for the treatment of depression and generalized anxiety disorder. Teva will enjoy six months of marketing exclusivity, as it was the first company to file an Abbreviated New Drug Application with the FDA. Lexapro has been a major revenue generator for Forest Labs with the product generating sales of $1.8 billion in the first nine months of fiscal 2012. View and share

Computer communications giant Cisco Systems is in advanced talks to acquire NDS for $5 billion, Israeli website Calcalist reported. NDS, founded in 1988, is a provider of software solutions for the pay television industry. The company is currently owned by Permira Advisors and News Corp, controlled by Rupert Murdoch. Its headquarters are based in the UK and its R&D center is located in Jerusalem, Israel. View and share

Microsoft has launched the first startup accelerator in the company’s history, to encourage early-stage startups to build cloud-based applications using Windows Azure. As part of the program, Microsoft will provide the participants workspace and coaching. The four-month program will take place at the Microsoft Israel Research and Development Center in Herzliya Pituach, Israel. View and share

Avaya plc is set to acquire video conferencing solutions developer Radvision, Israeli media reports. Avaya, a provider of business collaboration and communications solutions to companies around the world, will buy the Israeli company for $200-250 million. The deal is expected to be sealed by the end of this week. Radvision was founded in 1992 and provides video conferencing technologies over IP and wireless networks. View and share

IBM launched an analytics platform that offers personalized treatments for a wide range of long-term health issues including cancer, hypertension and AIDS. The biomedical platform, named Clinical Genomics, was developed by IBM researchers in Haifa, Israel and combines personal health history with an analysis of guidelines and similar cases. The platform will deliver treatment recommendations based on an automated interpretation of pathology guidelines, as well as cases documented in hospital information systems. View and share

Intel and GE Healthcare, the healthcare division of General Electric, have established a new laboratory in Israel to jointly test new technologies. The two companies announced that the lab will focus on optimizing their new products, such as GE’s ultrasound diagnostic imaging systems. The lab is located near GE Healthcare’s offices and Intel’s R&D center. View and share

Investment network eToro announced that it has closed a funding round of $15 million from Spark Capital and other investors to fuel international growth and further development of its social trading platform. The new round takes the total amount of funding in the Israel-based company to $33.9 million. eToro’s community powered network enables every investor to see, follow and automatically copy the actions of other investors in real time. According to the company, it has over two million users in over 140 countries. View and share

Medical device company superDimension is in the process of being acquired by Covidien Plc, for $350 million, Israeli website Calcalist reported. The deal is anticipated to be sealed by the end of this week. superDimension develops pulmonary devices that are mostly used to diagnose lung cancer. It was founded in 1995 in Israel and is headquartered in Minneapolis. View and share

Mazor Robotics, Israeli developer of surgical robots and complementary products for spine surgery, signed an agreement with Cicel Science & Technology to distribute its Renaissance system in China. As part of the agreement, Cicel is committed  to purchase three Renaissance systems for surgical guidance and will use these systems to pursue regulatory clearance from the State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA) in China. View and share

Israeli startup Fooducate has won the mobile application competition “Command the Spotlight” at the SXSW conference in Austin, Texas. The competition was organized by analytics company Flurry. According to the blog VentureBeat, Fooducate was one of three selected apps that beat their 700 competitors. Fooducate provides nutritional information about grocery store items after analyzing information found in each product’s nutrition panel and ingredient list. The company is based in Tel Aviv. View and share