News Briefs

September 3, 2014 | Teva Pharmaceutical Industries reported that its reslizumab asthma treatment saw positive Phase III trial results. According to the company, the drug was able to prevent serious asthma attacks in two of the case studies for the Phase III trial, showing a reduction in the number of attacks by 50 to 60 percent. “The consistent results from these duplicate Phase III trials demonstrating substantial reductions in asthma exacerbations are impressive,” said Professor Mario Castro, Washington University School of Medicine, Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine and lead investigator. Teva was founded in 1901 and is currently headed by CEO Erez Vigodman.

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September 3, 2014 | Israeli company Magal Security Systems (MAGS) announced that it recently received a number of new contracts that amount to more than $4 million, according to reports. The largest contract amounted to nearly $2 million for a dual technology smart fence in Israel. In addition, the company received orders for its fiber sensing technology to secure industrial sites and sea ports totaling over $500,000 each from the United States and Southeast Asia. Magal was founded in 1965 as a branch of the Israel Aerospace Industry focused on the development of smart security fences. The company was privatized in 1980 and had its IPO on NASDAQ in 1993.

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September 3, 2014 | Aston Martin will enter the Israeli automobile market, according to a “Globes” report. The Auto Art company, which is owned by businessman Haim Danino, will begin sales of the British luxury car brand in Israel. A showroom for the cars, that are expected to be priced between NIS 910,000 and NIS 2 million ($254,413-$559,151), will be in Herzliya and will display the brand’s four main models.

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September 3, 2014 | According to a “Globes” report, Teddy Sagi’s company Crossrider is set to announce plans for an IPO on London’s AIM Stock Exchange. The IPO will go forth at a company value of $250 million, with the company planning to raise $75 million led by The Shore Capital investment bank. Crossrider is set to have one of the shortest times on record from its founding to its IPO for an Israeli company, and it is most likely due to Sagi’s business prowess. The company, which specializes in the optimization of Internet traffic for digital advertisers in particular, was originally founded by CEO Koby Menachemi and CTO Shmueli Achdut in 2011 and was acquired by Sagi 20 months after its founding for $37 million.

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September 3, 2014 | Brillix, a data management consultant company, has acquired DBAces for approximately $419,199 (NIS 1.5 million). DBAces specializes in database technologies and expert consulting services for Oracle databases in particular. DBAces was founded six years ago by Ami Aharonovich, the founder and CEO of Oracle Professional DBA. Following the acquisition, DBAces will join Brillix, Aharonovich will be appointed CEO and will become a partner in the company.

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September 2, 2014 | According to a survey conducted by Seattle-based venture capital research fund PitchBook, Tel Aviv University is the ninth most entrepreneurial campus in the world. The survey was conducted on approximately 13,000 entrepreneurs from around the world, finding that Tel Aviv ranks ninth for the amount of alumni that go on to become entrepreneurs. It fell behind more prestigious schools like Stanford University, the University of California Berkley and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. However, Tel Aviv was rated more entrepreneurial than Yale, Princeton and Columbia, Ivy League institutions in the United States. Tel Aviv University was one of three Israeli universities to make it onto PitchBook’s top 50 list, along with the Technion that placed 18th, and Hebrew University, placing 36th.

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September 2, 2014 | Engage-US Communications launched last Thursday to help Israeli technology companies enter the US market. The company is an integrated marketing and communications company with offices in Silicon Valley and Albuquerque, New Mexico. It offers its experience in technology marketing and communications to companies looking to penetrate the American market. Engage-US is a collaborative effort between Breakthru Communications and Kohn Public Relations, offering Israel technology companies a full-range of marketing and public relations services, content development and social media marketing platforms.

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September 2, 2014 | Ido Sharir has been the director-general of the Peres Center for Peace for the past two years, but was now appointed to head the Israeli Science, Technology and Space Ministry. In the past Sharir served as the chief of staff for former President Shimon Peres, providing him with experience in the fields of science, technology and space. Sharir will be replaced by Efrat Duvdevani. Ido Sharir is well-known for his efforts to promote cooperation among Israelis and Palestinians in the fields of high-tech, economics and the environment.

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September 2, 2014 | The largest Israeli real estate investment company Gazit-Globe reported high quarterly profits, earning $41 million (NIS 146 million) in the second financial quarter. These profit reports are up from NIS 60 million during the same quarter last year. Gazit-Globe, known in the United States as Equity One, and in Canada as First Canada Reality, is the largest shareholder in Finland’s Citycon and a joint shareholder of Atrium European Real Estate. It is also one of the world’s largest owners, developers and operators of super-market anchored shopping centers in countries around the world.

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September 2, 2014 | Israel Chemicals (ICL) announced its plans to close its magnesium factory by 2017. The magnesium factory currently employs 550 workers, nearly 10 percent of the company’s total workforce. ICL, which is Israel’s southern Negev region’s largest employer and one of the largest companies on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, stated that the magnesium factory had barely been profitable. ICL was founded in 1968 as a state chemical company until it was privatized and sold to Israel Corp. in 1995.

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Video clip editing app startup Jovie has raised $500,000 in a seed financing round led by Yoel Cheshin’s 2B Angels and Arale Cohen, along with angel investment from Joey Low, Ron Zuckerman, Dov Moran and Yaacov Gorsd. Jovie’s founder and CEO is Israeli actor Assaf Harel, who produced the hit TV series “Mesudarim”, about fictional Israeli entrepreneurs who made a large exit. Jovie’s app allows users to create videos based on a bank of clips from famous movies that users can mix with their own footage.The app is available on iPhone, with an Android version planned.

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Proving that the Gaza conflict has not affected Israeli stocks as much as the Israeli tourism and other service industries, Mobileye, the global leader in the design and development of camera-based Advanced Driver Assistance Systems, rose by a massive 73 percent to $43.22 since its July 31 IPO on NASDAQ. It was the the biggest increase among all companies globally that raised $500 million or more in the past trimester. Caesarstone, another Israeli publicly-listed company, which engineers stone surfaces, rose 20 percent last month. According to Bloomberg news, the performance of Mobileye and Caesarstone, which has more than tripled since its 2012 listing, could help bolster demand for more Israeli IPOs.

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The ReWalk Robotics, the Israeli creator of the recently FDA-approved exoskeletons that enable paraplegics to walk, has released the terms for its IPO. The company plans to raise $50 million by offering 3.4 million shares at a $14 to $16 price range. ReWalk Robotics would command a fully diluted market value of $191 million, which is lower than former predictions. The company, founded in 2001, has marketed the product in hospitals earning $1.6 million revenue in 2013 and a loss of $12.2 million. 

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August 27, 2014 | According to the Israeli Ministry of Science, Technology and Space, the number of patents registered by Israeli research institutions rose by 20 percent in 2012-2013, compared to 2011-2012. The field with the most registered patents was the pharmaceutical field. Of the 1,438 patents that were registered between 2012-2013, 1,000 of them were completely new patents that have never before been registered in other countries, according to the National Council for Research and Development. Finally, the income from Israeli intellectual property in 2012-2013 was NIS 1,881 million ($526,677).

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August 27, 2014 | Teva Pharmaceuticals and Indian company Venus Remedies entered into a collaborative agreement for the sale of an anti-cancer drug in the Canadian market. According to the agreement, Venus Remedies will manufacture the drug and will assist Teva in registering the drug in Canada. Venus will also use its manufacturing capabilities to support Teva enhance its business in the Canadian market. Teva is an international pharmaceutical company headquartered in Petah Tikvah, Israel, founded in 1901.

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