The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia CEO Steven M. Altschuler, Drexel University President John A. Fry, and Hebrew University of Jerusalem President Menahem Ben-Sasson signed a research agreement this week. The research partnership is designed to focus on pediatric translational research and to develop a collaborative platform for advancing pediatric medicine from the lab to the bedside. The Hebrew University of Jerusalem hosted the signing ceremony.
News Briefs
November 14, 2013
Hebrew U To Collaborate On Research With Philadelphia Children’s Hospital And Drexel
November 14, 2013
Israel Passes Bill To Make Its Scientist Full Members Of CERN
Although Israeli scientists have been part of the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) for a while, they were still legal issues preventing them to be considered full members. CERN’s protocol states that in order to be considered full members, scientists must be given diplomatic rights by their respective countries, as to prevent government intervention in their studies. Following a vote at the Knesset, a bill that will give the scientists diplomatic immunity and an exemption from income tax was passed.
November 13, 2013
LapSpace Medical Raises Over $1M
November 13, 2013 | LapSpace Medical, an Israeli company developing a balloon retractor for laparoscopic surgery, has announced the closing of an investment round, raising over $1 million. The investment round was led by Trendlines and the Chief Scientist of Israel. LapSpace is a portfolio company of Trendlines Medical (Misgav).
November 13, 2013
Israeli Co IceCure That Turns Tumors Into Ice Balls Reports Success On Lung Cancer Trial
November 13, 2013 | Israeli medical device company IceCure, which develops minimally invasive technology that uses extreme cold to destroy tumors, has reported success in a lung cancer clinical trial. The trial was held at Kameda Medical Center in Japan, where two lung cancer patients were successfully treated with the company’s IceSense3 cryotherapy system.
IceCure president and CEO Hezi Himelfarb said, “We’re pleased at the success in destroying lung cancer tumors because use of our cryoablation platform could open to us a potential market of hundreds of thousands of new cases in the US alone. Treatment with IceCure’s system, which is a minimally invasive procedure, has clear advantages over complicated and expensive surgical solutions for excising tumors, which involve hospital stays, surgery, and prolonged recovery.”
After the trial is completed and the results are analyzed, IceCure will examine the extent of its involvement in the treatment of lung cancer by cryoablation.
[sharethis-inline-buttons]November 12, 2013
Cyber Security Company Checkmarx Raises $8M
November 12, 2013 | IT security company Checkmarx has closed an $8 million financing round. Sources inform ”Globes” that the round was led by a private equity fund, and may have included the companies previous investors XT Investments (formerly Ofer Hi-Tech) and strategic investor Salesforce.com.
November 12, 2013
Hebrew U To Take Part In €6M Pain Research Initiative
November 12, 2013 | The Hebrew University of Jerusalem is one of 11 universities, medical centers and research institutes in seven countries participating in ncRNAPain, a new European research project that aims at further exploring the biological mechanisms underlying chronic pain.
The Hebrew University is the only Israeli institution involved in this 6-million euro European Commission-funded project. The other countries represented are Austria, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Denmark and the United Kingdom.
[sharethis-inline-buttons]November 12, 2013
Sensible Medical Innovations Raises $20M
November 12, 2013 | Israeli medical device company Sensible Medical Innovations has raised $20 million in a financing round led by Boston Scientific Corporation. Sensible develops a non-invasive thoracic fluid status monitor, and will use the proceeds for the global commercialization of its product.
November 12, 2013
Vaxil Receive €104,000 Research Grant From EU
November 12, 2013 | Israeli company Vaxil BioTherapeutics, which develops vaccines for cancer and other diseases, has received a €104,000 grant from the EU. The grant was given by the Aditec consortium, which supports the development of advanced vaccine technology.
November 12, 2013
Magic Shooting For $60M On Nasdaq Offering
November 12, 2013 | Israeli company Magic Software Enterprises has filed a draft prospectus to raise up to $60 million with the US SEC. Magic did not state precisely what the proceeds will be used for; however, the company did say some of them will go towards acquisitions and investments.
November 11, 2013
British Ad-Agencies Visited Israel In Search Of Game-Changing Technologies
November 11, 2013 | Nine of the UK’s top advertising agencies and brands visited Israel last week in search of technologies that will help to further improve brand awareness and consumer engagement. MediaCom, Mondelez International, BBH, Manning Gottlieb OMD, AMV BBDO, Group M and Unreal were the visiting companies.
The delegation was organized by the Trade and Economic Office at the Embassy of Israel in London, the UK-Israel Tech Hub at the British Embassy in Israel and the Israel Export and International Cooperation Institute.
[sharethis-inline-buttons]November 11, 2013
OwnHealth Wins Startup Award In Mexico
November 11, 2013 | Israeli startup OwnHealth, which develops image processing technology to enable doctors to make medical diagnoses through a smartphone, has won first place at the Ciudad De Las Ideas conference in Mexico. The company was awarded $50,000.
November 11, 2013
Energy Industries Wins $5.5M Contract To Build Power-From Garbage Plant In Ghana
November 11, 2013 | Israeli company Energy Industries has won a tender to build a natural-gas power plant in the African nation of Ghana. The gas will be extracted from a landfill in umasi, Ghana’s second largest city. The contract awarded to Energy Industries is estimated at NIS 20 million (approx. $5.5 million).
November 11, 2013
Lumenis To Hold A $100M Public Offering On Nasdaq
November 11, 2013 | Israeli company Lumenis, a medical device company, is planning to raise $100 million on Nasdaq at a company value of up to $500 million (after money). “Globes” reports that the already publicly-traded company has set a target date of February 14 to return Nasdaq.
November 07, 2013
Oktopost Raises $800,000 In Series A Financing
October 30, 2013 | Israeli startup Oktopost, which is developing a social media marketing platform for B2B companies, has announced the closing of a Series A financing round, raising $800,000. The round was led by Plus Ventures’ Explore.Dream.Discover and 2BAngels.
November 07, 2013
Blumberg Aims 45 Percent Of $150M Investment Fund At Israeli Companies
VC Blumberg Capital has closed its 3rd investment fund at $150 million. “Calcalist” reports that 40 to 45 percent of the fund will be invested in Israeli companies, as opposed to 30 percent of the previous fund.
