BioWorld International Correspondent

JERUSALEM - A Monitor Co. report on the future of the biotechnology industry in Israel was released in January to the Ministerial Committee for Science and Technology of the Israeli Knesset.

The consultants' report, commissioned in early 2000 by the ministries of Industry & Trade, and Finance, with the Manufacturers Association, recommended that $85 million be invested in the sector immediately from the government, with another $52 million from a joint fund of the private sector ($20 million) and the government ($32 million), mainly to finance advanced academic research, and to establish two more incubators.

The report remarked in several places on the "great potential" of Israel's biotechnology sector, but noted that it is severely hampered by a lack of national vision, the failure to convert academic research into commercial applications, the inadequacy of the government incubator model for the special needs of biotechnology, and the overall shortage of management professionals.

A key recommendation called on the government to declare biotechnology an industrial sector of national importance, with the establishment of working committees comprised of representatives from government, academia and industry to chart and realize this goal.

Specifically, it suggested allocating $45 million over four years to set up two new incubators for biotechnology; $6 million for grants and other financial incentives to foreign and local companies building local research and development centers; about $2 million toward a state-of-the-art interactive data base; and conducting an overhaul of the regulatory infrastructure to recognize and support biotechnology.

Carmel Vernia, the Ministry of Industry and Trade chief scientist, said at the meeting that he would call upon government, academic and industry representatives to determine how "the requisite cooperation would be achievable."

The report noted that there is already an excess of capital in Israel in the private sector for investments in biotechnology and Monitor did not recommend that the government set up a venture capital fund. The report emphasized that Israel has the potential to play a leading role on a global basis if it can unclog the bottlenecks, specifically the lack of coordination between academia and industry, the absence of supportive regulation and laboratory infrastructure and the incubators' biotech-unfriendly mode of operation.

Monitor advised that the Israel Biotechnology Organization, which operates from within the Israel Manufacturers' Association, should be authorized to lead the effort to improve the sector.

Some other recommendations:

  • The government no longer finance human clinical trials.

  • Increase knowledge base between academia and industry.

  • Facilitate the initial commercializing and development phases.

  • Strengthen the regulatory infrastructure in the Health Ministry related to approval of "genetic products."