BioWorld International Correspondent

ZICHRON YA'AKOV, Israel - The United States-Israel Binational Industrial Research and Development Foundation, approved about US$9 million for 10 new projects, with a total value near $20 million.

BIRD-F announced these results at its annual board of governors meeting, held this year in Washington, at which it chose three projects from the life sciences.

Uri Attir, BIRD-F programs director, told BioWorld International, "One of the three approved life science projects cannot be disclosed at this time, by direct request from the participating companies."

Another project is a "joint venture of a company to be created" by Yissum Ltd., the technology transfer company of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and Sygen International plc, with corporate headquarters in Berkeley, Calif., for developing a genome-based diagnostic test to identify pathologies in farm animals. The technology platform has human applications as well.

The third life science project is a medical device approach to controlling obesity.

Dov Hershberg, BIRD-F executive director, said, "This is the third consecutive year that the BIRD Foundation is providing a high level of support for a variety of life science projects. The selection of the strategic partnerships in this sector represents a financing catalyst for additional funding in the future," referring to the longer development time characteristic of biotechnology projects.

Last year, BIRD-F awarded three of the 12 approved joint projects in life sciences and health care, and in 2001, six of 14 were awarded in those sectors. But the relatively small numbers do not indicate any kind of trend, Attir said, but rather the variations seen over short periods of time. Support for the life sciences was still an identified priority.