News about Israel's Science and Economics

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New Israeli Developments Unveiled at BioTech Israel 2003

Israeli companies unveiled 140 innovations last week at the BioTech Israel 2003 conference in Tel Aviv, ISRAEL21c reported. The developments were made in the fields of biotechnology, nanotechnology, medicine and medical equipment.
Israeli biopharmaceutical start-up, Vascular Biogenics Ltd., has developed a new genetic treatment, GT-111, which can cut off the oxygen supply to cancerous tumors causing them to shrink dramatically, or even disappear completely, without any negative side-effects to the patient. The treatment is based on a genetic charge that destroys the endothelial cells that build the blood vessels and supply oxygen to a cancerous tumor and its metastases. Without oxygen the tumor begins to shrink in size. Unlike current treatments that are based on killing the tumor's cells through chemotherapy, radiation and hormone treatments, and cause severe side effects, VBL's treatment has no side effects because it is not targeted at carcinogenic cells, but at the blood vessels that allow the metastases to grow. The treatment has already been tested successfully in animals and is likely to start clinical trials by the end of this year.
Palsamed, an Israeli incubator company, has developed a botanical based drug that can reduce cholesterol in the bloodstream. It is known that high cholesterol levels play a significant role in the increase of heart disease, strokes and other cardiovascular illnesses. Today, the most common treatment for high cholesterol levels are statin drugs, which, though effective, have major side effects such as memory loss, personality changes and muscle pain. Palsamed's drug compound is derived from edible plants indigenous to the Eastern Mediterranean region and has less potential for harmful side effects. The company is now approaching clinical trials of the drug.
Another development was unveiled by the start-up Topimed, which has developed a new medical preparation to treat degenerative skin damage like wrinkles, which result from natural aging and radiation from the sun. The preparation combines the DIK-60 hormone with an active carrier that can deliver the hormone to specific skin targets. It acts on both the dermal and the epidermal cells. According to the company, unlike existing products now on the market, the preparation can heal the internal skin layers and result in improved appearance.
Other developments which were also unveiled at the conference include a system that monitors moles that might indicate melanoma skin cancer, developed by Medvision; a next-generation wound care system developed by Enzy Surge; BioPack's natural insect repellent for food packaging; and an orthopedic device that alleviates pressure exerted on the knees while walking, developed by Granot incubator Ortech.

Herzliya-based biotech company Ester Neurosciences has been inundated with calls since the announcement of its successful Phase Ib trial of its EN101 drug for Myasthenia Gravis (MG), THE JERUSALEM POST reported. "Companies have calling with requests to license or buy the unique molecular model for the drug," said company CEO Dr. Eli Hazum. MG is a chronic and debilitating disease characterized by muscle weakness especially causing an inability to open one's eyes, and hand and leg muscle problems. The disease affects about 100,000 people worldwide and the potential market for the drug is believed to be up to $300 million. If testing continues to go well in the second and third phases the drug could be ready for market by 2005.
 

Israelis have developed a test that can detect early signs of dementia, often in time to initiate treatment that delays mental decline, THE JERUSALEM POST reported. A computerized battery of tests has been developed by Israelis and validated in studies in Israel and in Canada as being highly reliable and specific to MCI (mild cognitive impairment). After being downloaded from the company site, it takes about 30 minutes to complete. Called Mindstreams and developed in Modi'in for the NeuroTrax Corporation the patented software can make it possible to sift out people who have only benign forgetfulness and find those who have MCI or advanced stages of dementia.

The U.S. Army is using an Israeli mine-clearance system for its tanks in Iraq, GLOBES reported. The system, developed by Israel Aircraft Industries was installed on U.S. Army M-1 Abrams tanks. The IAI Ramta Aerostructures and Systems Division built the system at its Beer Sheva plant. Called the "Magof" by IAI, it is marketed internationally as the track width mining plough. The system is attached to a tank's body to clear mines and does not require personnel to operate the system.
 

BGU Developer of Natural Pesticides to get Prestigious Tyler Prize

Prof. Yoel Margalith, of the department of life sciences at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, is to receive today the prestigious Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement at a ceremony in Los Angeles, THE JERUSALEM POST reported.
Margalith is being honored for his discovery of Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis (Bti) naturally occurring bacteria that is lethal to mosquitoes and black flies. According to the Tyler Prize executive committee, Margalith's discovery "saved millions of lives with minimal environmental impact." Discovered 25 years ago, Bti is an environmentally safe biological pesticide found in nature. Used as a biological control agent, the bacteria kill immature mosquitoes before they begin to fly without harming the surrounding flora and fauna, including the natural enemies of larval mosquitoes. The introduction of Bti has led to the control of many fly-and-mosquito-borne diseases, such as river blindness in Africa and malarial infections along the Yangtze River in China.
Created in 1973, the Tyler Prize is the most prestigious award for environmental science, energy, and medicine. BGU president Prof. Avishay Braverman said that the university "is inspired by Prof. Margalith's work in disease control and salutes his achievements in endeavoring to preserve the delicate balance of the earth's ecosystem." "In particular, we are proud of his collaboration with Palestinian and Jordanian scientists since 1993 to eradicate the mosquitoes in the Jordan Valley, as this work is an expression of our hope to build the bridge to peace with Israel's neighbors in the region," he added.
 

Alvarion announced today that its broadband wireless access (BWA) solution had been selected by China Telecom for its first commercial 3.5 GHz BWA network deployment, GLOBES reported. Alvarion, which operates in China in a strategic partnership with Beijing International Switching System Corporation (BISC), said the contract win confirmed the value of the partnership. BISC is a joint venture of Siemens AG and Chinese enterprises. The network will be installed in Shenyang, a city of 4.5 million inhabitants and the capital of the Liaoning region. Alvarion's WALKair network will be used to support advanced voice and data access services, the company said. "We are proud to have been chosen by one of China's most prestigious operators for this major deployment," Alvarion CEO Zvi Slonimsky said. "It is the first order given to any vendor in the new round of 94 licenses which were allocated at the end of February 2003 by the Chinese authorities. The win confirms the value of our partnership with BISC, which is a major player in the emerging Chinese telecommunications market as well as the superiority of our product."
 

Teva Announces Breakthrough in Parkinson's Disease Treatment

After 25 years of research, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, Ltd. and H. Lundbeck A/S announced today of the successful completion of two phase III clinical trials of the Rasagiline drug in patients with advanced Parkinson's disease, GLOBES reported. Rasagiline, which was developed by Teva and based on the original research of Prof. Mousa Youdim and Prof. John Finberg from the Haifa Technion School of Medicine, is supposed to stop the creation of the disease.
In both trials, statistically significant results for the primary endpoint were achieved. Each of the studies, which compared once-daily dosages of Rasagiline to be used as an adjunct treatment to the current standard Levodopa treatment, demonstrated significant reductions in the duration of the "Off" time, a state in which patients are unable to function normally. The results of these two trials follow the successful results of an earlier phase III trial, which demonstrated the efficacy of Rasagiline as mono-therapy in early-stage Parkinson's disease.
According to MA'ARIV, Prof. Youdim was extremely excited about the results. "This is my life's work and I have always believed in this drug," he said. Prof. Youdim explained that losing nerve cells is a normal process of aging, but diseases such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's are accelerating the death of nerve cells in the brain. Rasagiline is a molecule that can largely prevent the acceleration process.
Rasagiline is expected to be submitted for regulatory approval in North America and Europe during the second half of 2003. Israel Makov, President and CEO of Teva said that, "the robust results of these trials have met our expectations with regard to the efficacy of Rasagiline." He added: "We are extremely pleased with the clinical development of this product, which holds promise for patients with both early and advanced stages of Parkinson's disease. These results also encourage us to move forward with investigating Rasagiline in other neurological disorders."
 

China Unicom, one of the world's largest mobile phone service providers, has chosen the Israeli company Celltick to provide a continuous stream of content to its customers in Xinjiang state, GLOBES reported. Celltick will design and implement a system whereby information and applications are sent to a user's cell phone without interfering with incoming or outgoing calls nor using bandwidth, the provider's most important and expensive resource. In doing so, Celltick will give Chinese cell phone users a dedicated channel through which they can access additional tools and programming. Celltick CEO Yossi Wellingstein said that "using or system, China Unicom will be able to intensify subscriber exposure to its many information services and to increase its value added service income significantly."

A biological process using three different types of fungi to control common plant diseases and mite pests has been developed by researchers at the Hebrew University's Faculty of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Quality Sciences in Rehovot, ISRAEL21C reported. Use of these fungi enables crops to overcome such plant diseases and pests without having to apply environmentally-polluting chemicals and have been effective in controlling plant mites and powdery mildew diseases, which cause widespread damage to field crops, flowers and fruit trees.

According to Hebrew U team member professor Abraham Sztejnberg, despite the billions of dollars that are spent annually in developed countries for controlling mites and powdery mildews with chemical pesticides, the agents have developed resistance to the pesticides and hurt the environment. A patent has been applied for through the Yissum Research Development Company of the Hebrew University, and business contacts have been made with a view to commercialization.

Identical twins at the Technion Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa - 22 year-olds Michael and Alex Bronstein - have applied a new technology to facial recognition that will revolutionize international security and help fight global terrorism, ISRAEL21C reported. The twins' work involves recording facial surface geometry which is not influenced by head position or lighting - two elements which up until now were the biggest weaknesses of facial recognition technology. The twins constructed a 3-D scanner and applied the "bending invariant canonical representation" algorithm developed by their "Numerical Geometry of Images" Professor Ron Kimmel to perfect the facial recognition technology pioneered by the Technion. Professor Kimmel jokingly probed the twins to put their machine to the test asking whether the algorithm could differentiate between the two of them. The latest versions of the algorithm used in recent experiments showed not even a single false match. The twins have registered their invention for patent in the US, and want to market it as a commercial product for airports, border crossings, security zones, and teller machines. Since the September 11 attacks, the market for biometric technologies, including software, hardware and services has expanded and is expected to grow by another 35.2 percent this year alone. The twins system could be employed at airports or border crossings where a 3-D security camera could scan passengers' faces and compare them with a database of three-dimensional pictures of suspected criminals or terrorists.

 Israeli-produced DentSim dental simulator helps to hone dental students' skills by allowing them more hands-on practice, THE JERUSALEM POST reported. Each unit, priced at $70,000 is comprised of a mannequin's head with infrared sensors and a large orifice containing artificial teeth; two infrared cameras; a focused lamp, a flat computer screen and mouse; a dental drill equipped with tiny sensors, water sprayer and suction device; and a very complex computer program. At the Jerusalem dental school, there are 10 units, where each student can spend several hours a week actually learning to prepare simulated teeth for fillings, crowns or bridges. The simulators display the optimal treatment on three-dimensional, tooth-filled upper and lower jaws and the result of the student's actual work.

Biotech start-up Gamida-Cell announced that Teva Pharmaceuticals will invest $3 million in its stem cell research, HA'ARETZ reported. Gamida-Cell has developed a technology that expands the population of stem cells with minimal differentiation. It is currently enrolling patients in the United States for a Phase I clinical trial of its cord blood stem cell product StemEx, for the treatment of advanced stages of blood diseases such as leukemia and lymphoma, which affect more than 1.5 million people worldwide

Foreign companies made $1.78 billion in reciprocal procurements in 2002, compared with $1.76 billion in 2001, GLOBES reported. Two hundred and seventy foreign companies made reciprocal procurements from Israeli companies, buying 302 products, mostly in the aviation, electronics, electrical, metals, software, computer and vehicle sectors. The most prominent companies making reciprocal procurements were Boeing, General Electric, General Motors, IBM, Intel, Lockheed-Martin, Pratt and Whitney, Siemens and Sikorsky Aircraft.
 

Smart card systems company SuperCom announced it has signed a U.S. distribution agreement with ADI, a division of Honeywell's Automation and Control Solutions unit, GLOBES reported. The agreement calls for ADI, the largest distributor of security systems and low voltage systems in the U.S.A. , to distribute Supercom's secured smart access control systems. The solutions to be distributed include SuperCom's SmartGate 2400, the EduGate solution and the Smart Card series 8500. Under the agreement, sales will begin in the second fiscal quarter of 2003.

 Israeli flower growers exported $70 million worth of flowers for Valentine's Day, GLOBES reported. The main destinations are the Netherlands, Germany, France, Belgium, Britain and the United States. Israel Flower Growers Association's secretary, Haim Hadad, said that the rise in the world price of roses and gerberas toward Valentine's Day improved the flower growers' situation after a long fall.

U.S., Israel to Develop Next Generation Jet Fighters

The United States and Israel signed a letter of intent outlining the terms of Israel's participation in the development of the next-generation Joint Strike Fighter due to be completed by 2012, THE JERUSALEM POST reported. Israel will pay $50 million over the next several years for the right to be part of the project and purchase the planes.
U.S. Undersecretary of Defense, Technology and Logistics Edward Aldridge Jr. signed the letter at the Pentagon on Thursday in the presence of Israel's Ambassador to the U.S. Danny Ayalon. The Director-General of the Ministry of Defense, Amos Yaron, signed the letter several days ago. Ayalon thanked the U.S. officials who helped negotiate the deal in the last few months for their support and expressed appreciation that Israel will be involved in the project. Eight countries (Britain, Netherlands, Italy, Denmark, Australia, Turkey, Canada and Norway) are already collaborating with the US on the JSF program. The U.S. and Israel worked out a special bilateral security cooperation deal according to which Israel will be a "security cooperation participant" in the JSF project. Though it will be barred from partner discussions during development, Israel will have full input via the U.S. In addition, the U.S. has pledged to help Israel modify the plane to employ some of its own equipment, especially air-to-air missiles. The advanced helmet, manufactured by the Israeli company Elbit, which enables pilots to use eye motion to direct missile fire, was selected for the program.


 Two blockbuster generics, new drug approvals and European sales of its multiple sclerosis treatment are expected to generate20 percent to 30 percent earnings growth for Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. this year, GLOBES reported. This year, analysts say the company may launch about a dozen new generic drugs with the potential to add $250 million to $270 million to 2003 sales. It will likely introduce copycats of Pfizer's hypertension drug Quinapril, Bayer's antibiotic Cipro and Schering Plough's Hepatitis-C drug Rebetol.

The Cleveland Clinic Foundation and the Technion Israel Institute of Technology announced that they are establishing a joint research and education program in molecular medicine and biomedical engineering, GLOBES reported. The collaboration will begin with five research projects in the fields of cardiology and orthopedics. The projects, set to begin at the end of the month, will focus on tissue engineering, heart stem-cell research, and fine mechanics and sophisticated robotics in orthopedics. The projects are being funded by a two-year grant from the Zielony Fund.
 

"Your Call is Being Recorded"

 In Los Angeles, when the LA Police Department emergency dispatcher tells you, "This call is being recorded," that will soon be thanks to advanced technology developed in Israel. NICE Systems, a worldwide leader of multimedia digital recording solutions, headquartered in Ra´anana, has been selected by Motorola to provide advanced digital voice recording solutions for integrated 911/radio console systems for two new LAPD 911 dispatch centers. One center is in downtown Los Angeles and the other, to open late next year, is located in the suburban San Fernando Valley.

 According to a recent ATID-EDI, Ltd. Fortnightly report, NICE claims the systems  "enable Motorola´s public safety and government customers to record radio transmissions and telephony on its networks... [giving] LAPD the ability to reconstruct incidents accurately and chronologically...." The systems will be able to maintain an archive of 21.6 million phone calls and radio conversations handled by the centers every year, for up to three years. The LAPD will be able to record 800 simultaneous phone and radio conversations, and allow LAPD officials to store all of the call information. "Each month," ATID-EDI reports, "the department receives approximately 1,500 requests for the recordings, requiring at least six full-time employees." 

**Israel Becomes First Nation to Curtail Trade of Diamonds from Conflict Areas

In an effort to curtail the diamond trade from rebel held conflict areas such as Sierra Leone, Israel has become the first nation in the world to adopt the Kimberley process, an international standard that certifies diamonds as "conflict free," GLOBES reported. "The Israel diamond industry has supported this process from the beginning," President of the Israel Diamond Exchange and the World Federation of Diamond Bourses Shmuel Schnitzer said. He added that, "three years ago we were the first to pass a resolution condemning trade in conflict diamonds and today I am gratified that Israel is leading the way in the implementation of this very important agreement." The very first Kimberley certificate was issued at the Israel Diamond Exchange on January 1, 2003.
Israeli companies purchase approximately 50 percent of the world's rough diamonds, two-thirds of which are eventually exported to the US as cut and polished. Israel's total net polished diamond exports worldwide totaled $5.2 billion in 2002.

 

* The U.S. patent office has approved the ICQ inventors' patent on their technology for instant messaging via the Internet, HA'ARETZ reported. The office also granted a patent on the entrepreneurs' technology for the transmission of instant messages over cellular networks. America Online, which bought ICQ with its owner Mirabilis in 1998 for $400 million, can file patent infringement suits against Yahoo! and Microsoft which develop and market similar software for the transmission of instant messages, or, alternatively, can demand the companies pay royalties. An estimated 400 million people worldwide use instant messaging, about 135 million of them ICQ users.

* A start-up in Kibbutz Einat outside Petah Tikva has developed a novel approach to power sources, THE JERUSALEM POST reported. Established in 1997, Power Paper produces paper-thin energy cells that are printed on silk-screen printing presses, can be adapted to fit the size and shape of almost any product and are safer for the environment than conventional batteries. The cell, which boasts a shelf life of two and a half years, can be printed, pasted, or laminated onto paper, plastic, or other media, becoming part of the end product itself. The battery creates electricity in the same way as conventional batteries, with two electrodes, a cathode and an anode separated by an electrolyte "ink" that conducts the energy. The patented ink is the key to the company's success, and the secret recipe is referred to within the company as the "Coca-Cola formula."
 

* Gil Shwed, 35, founder and Chief Executive Officer of the Israeli data security company Check Point Software Technologies, was named one of the 100 young leaders selected for the World Economic Forum's Global Leaders for Tomorrow Program 2003, HA'ARETZ reported. The World Economic Forum, an independent international organization that defines its goal as improving the state of the world, started the Global Leaders for Tomorrow Program in 1993. The program's aim is "to provide an informal, efficient framework for an ongoing exchange of opinions on strategic issues of concern to this younger generation of decision-makers." Each year members, constituents and collaborators of the World Economic Forum nominate 100 new GLTs. The list for 2003 contains people from 49 nations.
 

According to the Geneva-based forum, "the GLT Community represents the new generation of global leaders, nearly 500 individuals from business, politics, public interest groups, the media, the arts and the sciences, who have demonstrated responsible leadership vis-א-vis society, business developments, the environment and socially responsible initiatives." The criteria for making the list includes being under the age of 37, displaying a commitment to public affairs and demonstrating leadership in addressing issues beyond an immediate professional interest.
 

Check Point had achieved the highest market valuation ever reached by an Israeli company - $30 billion. Shwed holds about 10 percent of the company's equity and his holding is worth today about $480 million.
Dignitaries such as British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar, Bill Gates of Microsoft and Michael Dell of Dell Technologies have all earned this same title in previous years.
 

Check Point founder and senior VP Marius Nacht predicted that high tech exports would grow to $7.5 billion in 2003 and $9 billion in 2005, GLOBES reported. He added that high tech would continue to be the main force in Israel's economy. Nacht said the recent government Internet initiatives would help increase Internet traffic, particularly the e-government, health services, and online medical information projects. He added that the addition of new techniques for working at home would bolster Internet use.
 

* Start-up company Cyota, which develops solutions for secure payments over the Internet, completed an $8 million third financing round, GLOES reported. The round was led by RRE Ventures, a new investor in the company. Almost all the existing investors participated. This round brings the total amount so far raised by the company to $22 million. Cyota expects to become profitable within the next two months.
 

* Central Bureau of Statistics data show that exports of goods to the U.S. have climbed 15.2 percent since May, after remaining unchanged in April, GLOBES reported. Exports to the European Union (EU) have risen 3.2 percent in September-November, following a 1.2 percent decline in June-August. Exports to other countries, particularly in Asia, surged 6.2 percent in November, after remaining constant in October.
Imports of goods were distributed as follows: EU countries 40 percent, the U.S., 22 percent; Asia, 14 percent; other countries, 24 percent. Thirty percent of exports were to the EU countries, 31 percent to the U.S., 14 percent to Asia, and 25 percent to other countries.

* California-based Veritas Software Corporation announced it would buy Israel's Precise Software Solutions in a deal valued at $537 million, GLOBES reported. Veritas, one of the world's largest software companies, said it would offer Precise shareholders $16.50 per share in cash, a 37 percent premium above Precise's closing price of $12.05 on Wednesday.
Veritas said that by acquiring Precise, which develops application performance management solutions, it can provide a solution for IT professionals to run mission critical applications with optimal performance and continuous availability. Industry analysts predict this market opportunity will grow to $11 billion by 2006, Veritas noted.


*Israel Military Industries will supply the US Navy with 100-200 unmanned aviation vehicles (UAVs) to act as decoys against anti-aircraft missiles, GLOBES reported. The deal is worth $22 million. IMI will supply the Improved Tactical Air Launched Decoys (ITALD) built at its UAV plant. The US Navy uses ITALDs in military confrontations.

*A team of Israeli scientists at the Weizmann Institute have successfully grown miniature human kidneys in mice, in a breakthrough that might one day help save thousands of patients waiting for transplants, GLOBES reported. The method could lead to a promising solution to the severe shortage of kidney donors. According to the U.S National Kidney Foundation and the United Network for Organ Sharing, more than 50,000 people in the United States are on the waiting list.
 

* The Israel Hotel Association reported on Thursday that there was a 6 percent increase in foreign tourist staying overnight in November 2002, compared with November 2001, GLOBES reported. The report also indicated that there was also an 11 percent increase in hotel overnights by Israelis. Total hotel overnights in November were 1.093 million, of which 900,000 were by Israelis and 193,000 by foreign tourists.
 

* Teva announced today (Dec 30, 2002) that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted tentative approval for its application to market Alendronate Sodium Tablets, the generic version of Merck's Fosamax Tablets, GLOBES reported. Alendronate Sodium Tablets are indicated for the treatment and prevention of osteoporosis in postmenopausal women and the treatment of Paget's disease.
 

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