JVP, British Pharma Firm AstraZeneca Launch Digital Health Platform

Israel’s Jerusalem Venture Partners (JVP) and British multinational pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca announced a joint initiative on Monday, calling on startups to apply to PlayBeyondBio, a platform established with Israel Initiative 2020 (ii2020), to develop and promote innovative startups in the digital health field.

Ten startups will be selected to join the PlayBeyondBio business platform in a unique six-month program which will “fast-track towards promoting each company’s global market growth,” the companies said in a statement.

PlayBeyondBio’s business platform aims to “supercharge” digital health startups by connecting the entrepreneur, the investor, and the potential customer to build internationally disruptive companies.

Israel Initiative 2020 is the Israeli NGO based on the socio-economic vision of Dr. Erel Margalit, chairman and founder of JVP. The partnership is also in collaboration with the Maccabitech Healthcare Research and Innovation Institute, South African-Israeli philanthropist Morris Kahn, the Sagol Fund, Shaare Tzedek Hospital, and Microsoft for Startups.

The selected startups will be assigned a team of mentors from strategic partners who will help define their vision, their potential markets, and their messaging. Startups will also have exclusive guidance from AstraZeneca experts in areas of development, regulation, and sales, and from JVP experts on building global companies, securing investments, and access to databases.

The platform will identify technological answers to pressing issues and challenges in the industry, ranging from diagnostic to patient well-being and will focus on various clinical areas, including cancer, lung disease, cardiovascular disease, and metabolic disease.

Applications will close on March 11, 2020.

“PlayBeyondBio is revolutionary in the development of Israeli digital healthcare startups that have the potential to change rules of the game worldwide,” Margalit said.

“Israel now has the opportunity to become a global leader in digital healthcare innovation, and Israeli entrepreneurs have the ability to lead this revolution,” he added. “The disruptiveness of Israeli technologies combined with the knowledge, expertise, and challenges presented by AstraZeneca, the leading international pharma company, along with other partners such as Microsoft, Israel Initiative, Maccabi, and Israel’s leading hospitals present significant infrastructure for building groundbreaking, successful, deeply rooted companies.”

Last November, JVP and AstraZeneca signed a cooperation agreement to identify, develop and invest in digital health in Israel. A ceremony was held at the Peres Center for Peace and Innovation in Jaffa to launch BeyondBio, which became AstraZeneca’s official entry into Israel’s digital health sector. BeyondBio was launched as part of a Memorandum of Understanding for investment in Israel signed six months ago by AstraZeneca and the Israel Innovation Authority.

The first investment in Israel by AstraZeneca was estimated to be about NIS 10 million (about $2.8 million.)