BioWorld International Correspondent

ZICHRON YAAKOV, Israel - Three of the 12 approved projects by the United States-Israel Binational Industrial Research and Development Foundation (BIRD-F) Board of Trustees are in the life sciences.

The Tel-Aviv based BIRD-F projects are worth a total of $34 million.

Proneuron Biotechnologies Ltd., of Ness Ziona, will partner with Craig Hospital in Denver to develop cell technologies to repair spinal cord injuries; Glycominds Ltd., of Maccabim, Israel, and the German-American company Schott Glass Technologies, of Duryea, Pa., are cooperating to develop a bio-chip to diagnose genetic illnesses based on glycoprotein profiles; and a medical device partnership involves Notal Vision Ltd. in Tel Aviv and the Humphrey Division of Carl Zeiss Ophthalmic Systems in Dublin, Calif., to develop a diagnostic home-monitoring device to track age-related macular degeneration.

BIRD-F Executive Director Dov Hershberg said "the global slowdown and Israel's difficult security situation have created opportunities and a greater willingness to conclude agreements."

But, added Uri Attar, programs director, that has impacted negatively on the number of life science projects awarded. "Applications from the traditional high-tech areas - communications, software, microelectronics - are returning in significant numbers this year, and last, with relatively no increase in those from the life sciences, so relative success has decreased. In 1999 and 2000, 40 percent of the projects awarded were in life sciences, [but it is] down to 25 percent this year."

BIRD-F supports cooperation between U.S. and Israeli companies in various technological fields, giving free assistance in finding strategic binational partnerships. BIRD-F works closely with the Office of the Chief Scientist at the Israel Ministry of Industry and Trade and the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology, whose representatives alternate as BIRD-F's chairman of the board. BIRD-F funds 50 percent of a project's cost, which is repaid through royalties on sales.