Pooled testing was hailed early in the COVID-19 pandemic as a way to quickly and efficiently increase the number of people tested for the virus. But the approach has fallen short of its promise for a variety of reasons, from supply and labor shortages to high community infection rates. Now, a new testing method – recently approved for use by laboratories in Israel – could help chip away at some of those issues.
HONG KONG – Following FDA approval of its IND, Israel-based Kahr Medical Ltd. is set to start a phase I/II trial of lead product DSP-107, a second-generation CD47- and 41BB-targeting compound. The move puts Kahr among a number of companies working on drugs against checkpoint molecule CD47.
Israeli startup Bluewind Medical Ltd. has begun enrolling patients at U.S. sites in a pivotal trial of its Renova Istim implantable tibial neuromodulation system for the treatment of overactive bladder.
Cryoablation technology firm Icecure Medical Ltd. raised $6 million (₪20.7 million) in an oversubscribed equity offering. The Caesarea, Israel-based company (TASE:ICCM) plans to use the funds for continued expansion of operations in the U.S., Europe and Asia.
Sight Diagnostics Ltd. raised $71 million in series D financing to expand its commercial operations and increase research and development efforts into disease detection from its fingerprick blood analyzer Sight OLO.
The COVID-19 pandemic has thrown a wrench in routine medical exams, scaring many patients away from in-clinic visits and diverting resources to coronavirus-related needs. For pregnant women, who require frequent checkups but don’t want to risk infection, this can be a particularly trying time. Now, Israeli startup Pulsenmore Ltd. has launched a hand-held device that lets women perform ultrasounds in their own home and relays the results to a doctor or sonographer for evaluation and feedback.
CAPS Medical, of Netanya, Israel, closed a $3.5 million series A round led by Chasing Value Asset Management and the Los Angeles-based Israel Investment Fund Group. The new funds will be used to enable CAPS to undertake its first clinical trial for its minimally invasive, nonthermal plasma device for cancer treatment and further develop its portfolio for the treatment of solid tumors.
Virtual reality headsets offered a lot of hype around five years ago, but not much in results when it came to medical applications. Medical holograph company Realview Imaging Ltd. has raised a $10 million series C round to enable it to market its first product, Holoscope-i, which offers real-time, 3D holographic images based on any volumetric imaging data during minimally invasive procedures.
Exero Medical Ltd. aims to improve monitoring the gastrointestinal system after surgery with a wireless, biodegradable anastomotic leak sensor implant. It has started a tiny five-patient, first-in-human study as a proof of concept for its technology.
The U.S. FDA has given the green light to Xact Robotics Ltd. for its Xact Ace robotic system for computer tomography (CT)-guided percutaneous procedures. The company plans to roll out the system later this year with an initial focus on interventional radiologists.