Innovative 'in-the-capsule' technology by Jerusalem-based startup Intec Pharma

"Most people have heard of and been amazed by Given Imaging's camera-in-a-capsule - the groundbreaking Israeli technology that has redefined gastrointestinal diagnosis and benefited tens of thousands of patients worldwide.

Well, it must be an Israeli thing, because now Jerusalem-based startup Intec Pharma has come up with its own equally innovative 'in-the-capsule' technology which could likely create the next big splash in the Pharma industry - the Accordion Pill.

An oral drug delivery system, the Accordion Pill may look like an ordinary-sized capsule, but once inside the stomach it unfolds like an accordion and positions itself as a controlled-release platform. This unique technology will enable Intec to be a conduit for major slow release drugs that can be administered once daily cutting out the need for someone to take as many as five pills a day.

Our bodies naturally have a hard time absorbing certain medication into the bloodstream. In some instances a drug dosing may be too sudden - and too much active ingredient enters the narrow absorption window; in other cases, an insufficient amount of drug is absorbed and the active ingredients get quickly flushed outside the body.

The Accordion Pill ultimately solves this problem by retaining the pharmaceutical ingredients in the stomach for as long as 24 hours, compared to a maximum stomach residency of three hours in a regular formulation. It can also be designed to release the ingredients at desired intervals according to a drug developer?s demands. Within a day the small accordion structure biodegrades and passes through the system.

The Accordion Pill targets drugs that need to be absorbed by the bloodstream in a limited area of the upper small intestine known as the 'narrow absorption window', a physical area of the lower stomach and the upper part of the small intestine. Drugs that could benefit from Intec's technology are used for treating a wide variety of conditions such as Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, hypertension, AIDS, obesity and for pain relief.

The potential market for the Accordion Pill is so large that Intec succeeded in wooing CEO Efi Cohen-Arazi - a vice president of Amgen, the largest biotech company in the world - to its small offices in the hills of Jerusalem.

After just a few months on board, he was able to be part of Intec's latest milestone - last month's successful completion of Phase I clinical trials for a drug platform. The Accordion Pill will pass through further clinical trials depending on what company co-develops active compounds with them.

The study, conducted at the Sheba Medical Center in Ramat Gan, demonstrated that the Accordion Pill could double the amount of Riboflavin retained in the body. The study was based on cross-over data from thirteen healthy volunteers who received alternate 75 mg. doses of Accordion Pill Riboflavin and regular immediate release Riboflavin following a low calorie meal (280 calories).

The study results showed that the Riboflavin Accordion Pill was retained in the stomach and continued to release Riboflavin to its absorption sites for significantly longer periods of time than regular Riboflavin. The stomach retention time for Accordion Pill Riboflavin was more than 6 hours compared to less than 2 hours with regular Riboflavin; the absorption time for Accordion Pill Riboflavin was 8 hours compared to 3 hours for regular Riboflavin. As a result, the total amount of Riboflavin absorbed by the body was 100 percent greater when the Accordion Pill was used than when it was not.

The study results were presented last month by Prof. Amnon Hoffman of the Hebrew University at the 32nd annual meeting of the Controlled Release Society in Miami, Florida. Hoffman together with Prof. Michael Friedman is co-developer of the Accordion Pill and a member of the Intec Pharma Scientific Advisory Board..."

Source: Karin Kloosterman. Israel's 'Accordion Pill' unfolds according to plan. Israel21C (10 July 2005) [FullText]

Schwartz Endows TAU, U of Manitoba Exchange Program

"WINNIPEG — Gerry Schwartz, one of Canada’s leading businessmen, may live in Toronto now, but he hasn’t forgotten his alma mater.

The University of Manitoba announced last month that Schwartz, who graduated from the university in the early 1960s, has donated $500,000 to establish the Arni C. Thorsteinson International Exchange Program at its I.H. Asper School of Business.

The program will allow undergraduate business students at U of M and Tel Aviv University (TAU) to learn through collaborative exchange programs between the two universities.

The first such program is scheduled for later this summer.

Rob Warren, director of the Asper Centre for Entrepreneurship, said four of his U of M students will be in Tel Aviv from July 30 to Aug. 10, while four students from TAU will be in Winnipeg from Aug. 10 to 20. The students will be studying financial modelling and preparing business plans for a technology venture. On the last day of the program, they will present their business plans to a team of investors.

“This gift shows that Gerry Schwartz has great faith in the ability of the University of Manitoba to deliver world class programs,” Warren said.

Schwartz, who also has a degree from Harvard University, began his business career at a corporate law firm in Winnipeg before joining a company on Wall Street involved in mergers and acquisitions. He returned to Winnipeg to go into business with the late Israel Asper. In 1977, they co-founded CanWest Capital, now known as CanWest Global Corp.

In 1983, after parting ways with Asper and CanWest, Schwartz and two employees founded Onex Corporation, the director of which is his friend and colleague Arni C. Thorsteinson, a long-time business leader in Manitoba. In recognition of Thorsteinson’s work and friendship, Schwartz established the program in his name.

“This program represents a tremendous opportunity for our students to experience the business culture of another country,” Warren said. “Israel is unique in this respect because of its reputation for entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial development. Israel is second only to the United States in the number of high tech start-ups. Our students will get a chance to see a lot more biotech and IT stuff in Israel. And Tel Aviv University is a world-class institution with a strong finance program.”

The Thorsteinson program, which is scheduled to run for 10 years, is open to U of M students with high grade point averages who are in their third or fourth year in commerce.

Warren said future exchanges are still in the planning stages."


Source: Myron Love, Prairies Correspondent. Schwartz endows TAU, U of M exchange program. CJNews.com (14 July 2005) [FullText]

Jerusalem Mayor Says He is Trying to Attract Biotech Companies, With Hebrew University and Hadassah Medical Centers the Main Incubators

Leading text: "Uri Lupolianski is the first to admit that he is running a very unusual city - a place considered holy by Muslims, Christians and Jews, who talk about tolerance more than they actually practice it, at least here. Jerusalem has all the problems of big cities - crime, unemployment, public transportation, garbage. But it also has been the prime location for suicide bombings and other attacks on civilians: 90 since October 2000, including 34 suicide bombings that have killed 183 people and wounded 1,454. Then there are the less existential indignities - physical squabbles among Christian clergy over sacred turf, ultra-Orthodox Jews spitting on the cross carried by the Armenian archbishop, the demolition of Palestinian houses for zoning irregularities. And Jerusalem is surrounding itself by a wall - a concrete security barrier cut by checkpoints that is, in many places, 10 meters, or 33 feet, high.

But Lupolianski, 54, is almost as unusual as his city, and he represents a growing power here. He is Jerusalem's first ultra-Orthodox mayor, a rabbi who is sometimes accused of favoring Jewish interests over Muslim ones, and of favoring his co-religionists over the interests of more secular Jews, an unknown but noticeable number of whom are leaving Jerusalem for less religiously heated places like Tel Aviv and Haifa. Haifa-born, he is haredi, a Hebrew word for the ultra-Orthodox that has its root in fear, awe or dread. He will not shake hands with women, for example, so his aides carefully, politely, and even gracefully insert themselves to spare female visitors any embarrassment.

He has 12 children and 15 grandchildren - so far - he says. And the haredi make up an increasingly large part of the city's population - about a third of it, roughly the same as the number of Muslims - and representing about half the Jewish population. Currently, Jews make up about 66 percent of the population and Arabs about 33 percent, nearly all of them Muslim. The number of Christians in Jerusalem is tiny, fewer than 3,000, while fewer than 9,000 have no stated religion. In office since February 2003, when Ehud Olmert resigned to join the national cabinet, Lupolianski was elected in his own right to a five-year term in June 2003, beating a wealthy businessman, Nir Barkat, 52 percent to 42 percent. In his campaign, Lupolianski promised fair treatment to everyone, and now he says that is what he is attempting to provide.

"If we take the wrong steps here, we can cause a world conflagration, God forbid," he said in an interview in his office overlooking the milky-tea-colored stones of the Old City. "So people have to behave carefully," he said, in what he calls "a great human mosaic." Speaking in Hebrew, he said: "We have to take care of three religions and their interests. But Jerusalem is not just the capital of the people and state of Israel - it's the heart and soul of the Jewish people." upolianski was recently criticized for trying to stop a gay rights parade in Jerusalem - a parade decried by the leading religious figures of all faiths here, who gathered together at a news conference to denounce the idea. In the end, the Jerusalem District Court ordered that the parade be allowed to take place, and a young haredi man broke it up by stabbing three participants.

Lupolianski is best known in Israel not as a politician, but as the founder of Yad Sarah, a medical charity named after his grandmother, who was murdered in the Holocaust. The charity, with almost 100 branches and 6,000 volunteers, supplies medical equipment to those who need it and runs low-cost dental clinics and centers for disabled children of any religion. The big battles in Jerusalem - over housing, zoning, equal education and land sales - are really small versions of the much larger national struggle between Israelis and Palestinians. And given their nature, some of them are beyond Lupolianski's purview: the health services and the police, for instance, which are run nationally, not municipally. Uniquely, Jerusalem, not the state, administers its own educational system, although the state pays the bills out of national taxes. But there are controversies here, too, with suspicions that the mayor is helping religious education more than bicultural schooling...

The mayor says the city is now investing more in services and infrastructure in East Jerusalem than in the west, even buying narrower garbage trucks to navigate the streets there. And he is proud to be pressing ahead with a light-rail system, to ease congested traffic, that should be running by February 2008. Jerusalem, which can feel small and even suburban outside the walls and sites of the Old City, in fact is sprawling, especially after Israel annexed East Jerusalem after seizing it from Jordanian control in the 1967 war. Few countries recognize that annexation, which is why nearly all countries have their embassies in Tel Aviv, though there are many consulates and representative offices in Jerusalem, both east and west, to cater both to Israelis and Palestinians.

Jerusalem stretches over 126 square kilometers, or 49 square miles, and with a population of 706,300 it is Israel's most populous city, with more than 10 percent of the country's inhabitants - more than Tel Aviv and Haifa combined. It has grown quickly with the state; it had only 84,000 residents in 1948. In East Jerusalem alone there are now about 400,000 people, at least half of them Jews and their descendants who moved there after 1967, and who are considered illegal settlers by the Palestinians and much of the world.

Despite its tourist glitter, now returning to some degree with a period of truce between Israelis and Palestinians, Jerusalem has problems more typical of poor countries than of the modern power that Israel believes itself to be. Jerusalem is growing quickly, with nearly 18,800 babies born here in 2004, more than the next three largest Israeli cities combined. It also has Israel's youngest population - with 53 percent under the age of 25, compared with 30 percent in lively, beachfront Tel Aviv - and widespread underemployment. All these figures hint at Jerusalem's largest quandary: the sizable number of people who are not working. Its large population of ultra-Orthodox Jews includes many who study for a living and do not enter the work force; its many Palestinians from East Jerusalem have endemic problems of joblessness, made worse by security limitations on travel. And both of these communities have high birth rates.

Jerusalem's unemployment rate is 7 percent, which seems fine compared to those in the next three largest cities: 9.3 percent in Tel Aviv, 10.2 percent in Haifa, and 10.5 percent in Rishon Letzion. But given the high percentage of ultra-Orthodox who study and a disaffected Arab population, only 44.5 percent of Jerusalem's adults are active in the labor force, compared with 62.5 percent in Tel Aviv, 54.5 percent in Haifa, and 64.5 percent in Rishon Letzion. About two-thirds of the population pay the minimal level of tax, and there is little industry beyond tourism, which is recovering only now after the past four years of intifada. The tax base is weak, meaning that the secular working class inevitably pays more.

The passion of the haredi, many of whom do not recognize the state of Israel, is one of the glories of Jerusalem, Lupolianski believes.

"For you, he's unemployed, but he studies and his wife works at something," said Jacob Rosen, the mayor's political adviser for international affairs, on assignment from the Foreign Ministry. "And many of them are supported by other haredi who are working in Brooklyn!" But the increasingly religious nature of the city - with very few restaurants or shops open on the Sabbath and many restaurants, like the famous Fink's, forced to become kosher to survive - is also driving more secular Israelis away.

In an interview last year, the Israeli writer Amos Oz, who is Jerusalem-bred, told The New Yorker magazine that he rarely could bear to spend the night in Jerusalem now. "It is hyperactive," Oz said. "Everyone is expecting something, either the messiah or disaster or both. Tel Aviv is becoming more and more Mediterranean, like the south of France, whereas Jerusalem is moving in the direction of, I don't know where, maybe like Qum, in Iran..."

The mayor says he is trying to attract biotech companies, with Hebrew University and Hadassah medical centers the main incubators.

Lupolianski is sometimes surprised by his situation. "It's hard to believe that I have to sit, as a religious Jew, with the representatives of the Greek Orthodox Church and the Armenians to try to make peace between them," he said. "But I'm their mayor, and they need to be able to come here and talk to me about their problems."

As a city, he said, "we want to help everyone to preserve their traditions in freedom, so that everyone can dance their dance - so long as they don't step on other people's feet."

Source: Steven Erlanger. Jerusalem mayor tries balancing act. The New York Times (11 July 2005) [FullText]

India in talks for R&D deals with US and Israel

"India has set up a corpus fund with Israel to promote collaborative industrial research in five technology areas and is in talks with the US for a comprehensive research agreement covering sensitive areas like clinical trial protocols and export of bio-resources.

Science and technology minister Kapil Sibal told reporters here today that the agreement with the US is likely to be inked during the Prime Minister’s visit to that country later in the year.

Mr Sibal, who discussed the agreement with J Marburger, the US president’s science advisor and director of the office of science and technology, during his visit to Washington last month, said the deal would cover areas like information technology, defence, biotechnology and nanotechnology.

Taxation and intellectual property issues are the only outstanding issues to be sorted out. Among the possible agreements are a mutually-recognised protocol for clinical trials. Such a standard recognised by the US Food and Drug Administration and the Drug Controller General of India will avoid the need for repeating in the US, the human clinical trials done here so that those medicines can be approved for the US market.

Transfer of biological material, crucial for biotech research, is also on the agenda. Nano-powders and nano-paints which make a surface dust and stain free are part of the research projects. Nanotechnology refers to building complex materials with special qualities atom by atom.

The other tie-ups being negotiated are between various research institutes in both the countries. This includes the tie-up between the University of Maryland, known for its nanotechnology research, and India’s department of biotechnology. Mr Sibal said the $2m corpus fund with equal contribution from India and Israel will later be stepped up to $50m after getting Cabinet approval.

One of the projects being considered for soft loan or grant under this fund is manufacturing of India’s indigenously-developed battery run car Reva in Israel. One entrepreneur from Israel is partnering with another from India for this.

The joint industrial research between the two countries would cover biotechnology, nanotechnology, space, science and technology and aeronautics, alternative sources of energy and water technology. Israel’s Weizman Institute of Science and India’s Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology will jointly do stem cell research.

Mr Sibal also inked research deals with countries like Brazil, Columbia and South Africa earlier this month. India, Brazil and South Africa will jointly research cures for HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and Malaria. Biotechnology, oceanography and nanoscience are the other areas of co-operation."

Source: India in talks for R&D deals with US and Israel. DefenceIndia.com (5 July 2005) [FullText]

Israeli Consulate Seeks US Partners for Israeli Biotech Firms

" The Israeli consulate is creating a business forum to stimulate commerce in Greater Miami. The Israel-Florida International Business Forum's mission is to match start-up telecommunication and biotechnology companies from the Middle Eastern country with US businesses. "We are looking for distributors and investment partners. We want to fill a vacuum in Florida, one of the biggest economies in the world," said Assi Haim, Israel's director of economic affairs in the Miami consulate.

He said what sparked creation of the forum was a slow period in the Israeli chamber of commerce in Miami and the need to rekindle business activity. Mr. Haim, coordinating the forum alone, said the initial plan was to attract volunteers and establish a steering committee to develop a think tank. After the steering committee is created, he said, the forum will be divided into smaller committees to "make it more effective."

The next step will be to set up joint ventures between Israeli and American companies, especially in biotechnology. In its first months, the business forum will be in the Israeli consulate, 100 N Biscayne Blvd. "The purpose of this forum is to pursue business opportunities for Israeli companies in South Florida," said Richard Bernstein, who is with the Greenberg Traurig law firm and assists Israeli companies. Mr. Bernstein said Israel has tremendous expertise in four areas: security, biotechnology, water-related services and agro-tech. The country already provides agro-tech knowledge to Central American nations and the Dominican Republic. One goal of the forum, Mr. Bernstein said, is to unite business people on a quarterly basis and have networking events.

"We are still thinking of how we can make this project attractive to develop economic activity," he said. At first, we are inviting volunteers to join the steering committee." One initial plan is to host a specific event on biotech in late September or early October, bringing 10 Israeli multinationals to Florida to showcase some of their projects. "We want to make presentations to the Scripps Research Institute and other biotech firms in Florida," Mr. Haim said. "We hope investors are interested in hearing what these companies have to offer."

Enterprise Florida, the state's private-public partnership, is endorsing creation of the business forum. "We have been working with 150 Israeli companies," said Fred Glickman, managing director of the international offices of Enterprise Florida, who participated in the forum's June inauguration. "Enterprise Florida is very interested in these companies from Israel and the forum will be one of the linking vehicles," Mr. Glickman said. The forum now is predominantly a venture between Florida and Israel. But Mr. Grossman said because of Miami's ties to Latin America, it will inevitably expand south.

Israeli consul Yitschak Ben Gad is also trying to encourage Americans to do business in Israel. "Israel is today is talking business," he said, experiencing 4% economic growth in the past year. "The commitment of new Palestinian leader Abbas is to stop terror and this creates an atmosphere for hope. It is a very good time to invest in Israel."

Details: Assi Haim, (305) 925-9411."

Source: Claudio Mendonça. Israeli consulate seeks investors, distributors for business forum. Miami Today (7 July 2005) [FullText]

Applied Biosystems' TaqMan(R) Genomic Assays to Be Included in GeneCards(R)

"FOSTER CITY, Calif. & CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 5, 2005--Applied Biosystems Group (NYSE:ABI), an Applera Corporation business, and Xennex, Inc., the exclusive provider of commercial licenses for the GeneCards(R) database of human genes, today announced an agreement whereby Applied Biosystems TaqMan(R) Genomic Assays will be accessible via GeneCards. Under the terms of agreement, Applied Biosystems will provide GeneCards customers direct access to its entire collection of nearly three million genomic assays.

"With access to Applied Biosystems TaqMan(R) Genomic Assays and relevant links to other databases of human genes, the information contained in GeneCards is particularly useful for researchers looking for information about genes of interest in the context of functional genomics and genetic variation," said William V. Murray, Division President of Molecular Biology for Applied Biosystems. "Our three million ready-to-order assays available for gene expression and SNP genotyping studies will allow researchers to quickly advance their gene expression studies, as well as SNP screening, association, candidate region, candidate gene, or fine-mapping studies directly from GeneCards."

GeneCards is a popular searchable database of human genes and their encoded proteins, with major focus on functional genomics and medical aspects including involvement in diseases. GeneCards offers concise information about the structure and function of human genes. It extracts and integrates a carefully selected subset of the gene information, obtained from major data sources, public and proprietary, successfully overcoming barriers of data format heterogeneity.

GeneCards was developed over the last eight years at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel under the direction of Professor Doron Lancet, Head of the Institute's Crown Human Genome Center. More information on GeneCards can be found at http://bioinfo.weizmann.ac.il/genecards/.

"GeneCards users are continually looking for ways to find information of value on specific genes and link to resources that will move their research forward," said David Warshawsky, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of Xennex, Inc. "Offering access to Applied Biosystems assay products allows us to provide our commercial and academic users innovative tools that will quickly help them follow promising database search leads with real-world lab experiments."

The Applied Biosystems TaqMan Assays product line includes more than 600,000 gene-specific probe and primer sets for quantitative gene expression studies of human, mouse, rat, Arabidopsis, Drosophila (fruit fly), and more than two million human SNP assays for genome-wide marker coverage. The assays run on Applied Biosystems Real-Time PCR systems, including the 7300, 7500, and 7900HT Systems.

About Applera Corporation and Applied Biosystems

Applera Corporation consists of two operating groups. The Applied Biosystems Group serves the life science industry and research community by developing and marketing instrument-based systems, consumables, software, and services. Customers use these tools to analyze nucleic acids (DNA and RNA), small molecules, and proteins to make scientific discoveries, develop new pharmaceuticals, and conduct standardized testing. Applied Biosystems is headquartered in Foster City, CA, and reported sales of $1.7 billion during fiscal 2003. The Celera Genomics Group (NYSE:CRA), located in Rockville, MD, and South San Francisco, CA, is engaged principally in integrating advanced technologies to discover and develop new therapeutics. Celera intends to leverage its proteomic, bioinformatic, and genomic capabilities to identify and validate drug targets, and to discover and develop new therapeutics. Its Celera Discovery System(TM) online platform, marketed exclusively by Applied Biosystems, is an integrated source of information based on the human genome and other biological and medical sources. Celera Diagnostics, a 50/50 joint venture between Applied Biosystems and Celera Genomics, is focused on discovery, development, and commercialization of novel diagnostic products. Information about Applera Corporation, including reports and other information filed by the company with the Securities and Exchange Commission, is available at http://www.applera.com, or by telephoning 800.762.6923. Information about Applied Biosystems is available at http://www.appliedbiosystems.com/.

About Xennex

Xennex, Inc. (www.xennexinc.com) is a dynamic privately held company that is dedicated to providing Biotechnology, Pharmaceutical and other life sciences companies, as well as organizations dealing with biotechnology intellectual property, the highest level of services and tools to enhance their gene-based research. Xennex' products help such organizations to optimize their efforts to develop innovative medical products and services. Xennex operations worldwide are carried out from its offices in Massachusetts, USA. Xennex' customers include many of the world leading biotech and pharmaceutical companies, located in North America, Europe and Japan. Xennex' products are used in hundreds of commercial and academic organizations by thousands of users around the globe.

Applied Biosystems Forward Looking Statements

Certain statements in this press release are forward-looking. These may be identified by the use of forward-looking words or phrases such as "believe," "expect," "plans," and "should" among others. These forward-looking statements are based on Applera Corporation's current expectations. The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 provides a "safe harbor" for such forward-looking statements. In order to comply with the terms of the safe harbor, Applera Corporation notes that a variety of factors could cause actual results and experience to differ materially from the anticipated results or other expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements. These factors include but are not limited to (1) rapidly changing technology and dependence on the development and customer acceptance of new products; (2) sales dependent on customers' capital spending policies and government-sponsored research; (3) Applied Biosystems' dependence on the operation of computer hardware, software, and Internet applications and related technology; (4) unproven use of genomics information to develop or commercialize products; and (5) other factors that might be described from time to time in Applera Corporation's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. All information in this press release is as of the date of the release, and Applera does not undertake any duty to update this information, including any forward-looking statements, unless required by law.

Copyright(C) 2004. Applera Corporation. All rights reserved. Applied Biosystems is a registered trademark and Applera, Assays-on-Demand, Celera, Celera Diagnostics, Celera Discovery System, and Celera Genomics are trademarks of Applera Corporation or its subsidiaries in the U.S. and/or certain other countries. TaqMan is a registered trademark of Roche Molecular Systems, Inc. GeneCards is a registered trademark of Yeda Research and Development Co. Ltd.

For Research Use Only. Not for use in diagnostic procedures."

Source: Applied Biosystems' TaqMan(R) Genomic Assays to Be Included in GeneCards(R). Businesswire.com (5 July 2005)[FullText]

Israel Biotech Showcase: Pharmos LTD

Organization: PHARMOS LTD. , Contact: Name: Prof. Haim Aviv , Chairman & CEO

Address: Kiryat Weizmann Rehovot ISRAEL, 76326 , Telephone: 08-9409679 , Fax: 08-9409686 , Email: pars@pharmos.com , WEB site: www.pharmoscorp.com

GENERAL INFORMATION

Established: 1990 , Type: Industry , Ownership: Private , Parent: Pharmos Corporation , Employees: 55

Core business: Therapeutics for treatment of a range of neurological disorders such as stroke, neuropathic pain, Parkinson's disease and other CNS and peripheral neuro-inflammatory indications.

Overview: Pharmos Corporation is a bio-pharmaceutical company that develops and commercializes products for the central nervous system (CNS), neurological and other key healthcare markets.

Untill recently the leading product in development was dexanabinol, but the drug failed the international Phase III
clinical study for the treatment of severe TBI in over 45 centers in 8 European countries and Israel.

With the aid of computational chemistry, Pharmos has constructed a library of dextrocannabinoid compounds comprising two major chemical groups. The first is the tricyclic family of compounds, of which dexanabinol is the prototype. These compounds have the generic ability to inhibit NMDA receptors and to block COX-2, cytokines and chemokine activation, thereby acting as powerful anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective agents against diseases
such as stroke, neuropathic pain and other neuro-inflammatory indications.

The second group is the bicyclic family of compounds, which specifically bind to CB2 receptors. Because CB2 receptors are present in all cells of the immune system, Pharmos is evaluating the potential of bicyclic dextrocannabinoid compounds as modulators of the immune system and for their affect on
auto-immune diseases.

Pharmos is actively studying compounds from its dextrocannabinoid library in pre-clinical programs targeting various CNS and peripheral disorders, including stroke, neuropathic pain, Parkinson's disease, renal ischemia and others.

AVAILABLE R&D CAPABILITIES:

Expertise: R&D objects: Development of neurological pharmaceuticals, using innovative drug design technologies.
R&D markets: Neurological disorders Sci. discipline: Pharmaceuticals, Pharmacology, Clinical trials.

Available R&D facilities: Annual R&D expenditure (MU$): 5,000 ; R&D employees: 43 ; R&D professionals: 21

Source: Pharmos LTD: Invitation for technological cooperation. Matimop.org.il web site

$6b foreign investment in Israel expected in 2005

"Direct foreign investment in Israel totaled $2.1 billion in January-April 2005, and is expected to reach $6 billion by the end of the year, Investment Promotion Center director Rachel Roei reported today. Foreign investment totaled $6.1 billion in 2004, including $1.8 billion in direct investment. Investors are interested mainly in high-tech, communications, and information technology; life sciences; and homeland security. Following the rise in direct investment by foreign companies, the Ministry of Industry, Trade, and Labor is formulating a plan for aid in expanding development centers and other tools for marketing Israel as a preferred investment target. The plan offers foreign investors aid for R&D centers, based on the new Law for the Encouragement of Capital Investment, and the reform in the Encouragement of Industrial Research and Development Law (5744-1984). The amendment allows know-how developed with aid from the Office of the Chief Scientist to be exported in exchange for enlarge royalties. Roei said that the plan was designed to cause multinational companies to prefer locating their development centers in Israel to other countries, mainly India, China, and Eastern Europe. In addition, the Investment Center is developing tools for marketing Israel as an investment target, including a promotional film, an Internet site, and a booklet, focusing on success stories of international companies in Israel. With the help of the Ministry of Industry, Trade, and Labor's professional units, the Investment Center has recently advised interested foreign companies in communications, life sciences, and information security from the US, Italy, France, and Asia. Interested companies included Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei Technologies, Samsung and SK Corporation from South Korea, and Russian information technology company Kaspersky Lab. The Investment Center is also preparing for a visit to Israel by representatives from Sony Corp. (NYSE: SNE), following meetings by Minister of Industry, Trade, and Industry Ehud Olmert with Sony chairman and CEO Nobuyuki Idei in Japan last month. Sony representatives were invited to consider investing in Israel technology companies."

Source: Hadas Manor. $6b foreign investment in Israel expected in 2005. Globes Online (27 June 2005) [FullText]

Israel's leadership in clean water technologies

Bob Rosenbaum is among the initial founders of the Israel Water Forum and a consultant to the Israel National Nanotechnology Initiative (INNI), a key stakeholder in the Forum. He is also director of the Small Advantage Consultancy and a frequent contributor to ISRAEL21c

"Progress for Israel's water technology toolkit is a strategic requirement. Providing environmentally sound, efficient means to maintain and develop sources of clean water is among the greatest challenges facing Israel and the world in the new millennium. Water remediation presents us with tremendous opportunities as well as challenges. As an acknowledged leader in this field, Israel stands to become a global hub for innovation in water treatment, a role that can provide crystal clear economic, social and political benefits. As well, water technology development can become a compelling focus for building a local water industry that is more cohesive, more capable and more productive. Over the past year, it has become evident that true progress in water business development is beyond the scope of a single, or even several, independent organizations. The water industry is complex and multi-disciplinary. In fact, our future success in water remediation requires the commercialization of new technologies based in nano-science, biology and microelectronics, as well as marketing Israel's unique R&D capabilities in these and other fields. These efforts demand a dramatic, paradigm-level shift in our approach. Regardless of the technologies used and the profoundly different vocabularies and skills demanded by each field, we must address the overriding need for ongoing, fruitful interactions among all members of Israel's water community, and we must adopt the global business-oriented approach that has resulted in such outstanding successes for Israeli telecoms, networking, biotech and other industries. Water is high tech now. In March, a handful of leading executives from Israeli industry, academia and government formed the Israel Water Forum to help make water technology and water business development a winning national priority. Only two months later, in a meeting attended by over 40 stakeholders, a Forum steering committee was established, together with specific objectives for success. We have made an excellent start. With such broad partnership and support from Israel's major water research institutes and large water industry firms, we can actively engage the participation of both established and new water technology businesses, labs and organizations in Israel, as well as interested partners outside of Israel. We must further broaden our Forum to include clean water technology buyers, high tech industry developers and venture finance interests. Our work is not to replace existing efforts and organizations, but to supercharge them with unprecedented business influence. Among the Forum's goals: to triple Israel's share of the global water technology market to US $4 billion annually, to increase Israeli entrepreneurial and start-up activities in water technology related businesses by 15% annually, and to secure $100 million in funding for Israeli water technology R&D and higher education. The Israel Water Forum program will include both traditional business activities such as professional meetings and an annual conference, and newer proactive communications channels such as Internet portals, industry research reporting and public relations campaigns. Special task forces will be created to promote market awareness, improve understanding of key technology and environmental issues, and generate beneficial collaborations among academic and industry interests, both locally and globally. Entrepreneurial programs will be used to foster innovation for Israel's existing water industries, and promote growth for new water-related industries. The Forum is a membership-based organization, managed primarily by a voluntary board of directors with vested interests in the progress of Israeli water technologies as well as the profitability of Israeli water industries. The Forum program, and the Forum itself, are being implemented in measured phases to ensure its ongoing effectiveness and value. We already have the infrastructure, the know-how and the motivation to make Israel's clean water technologies a global presence. With creation of the Israel Water Forum, we now have the means for unified focus, synergy and marketing that are imperative to our success in the global water business. We invite you to benefit from this effort by becoming a contributing Forum member. For more information, please email our coordinator, Hagai Langstadter."

Source: Bob Rosenbaum. Ensuring Israel's leadership in clean water technologies Israel 21 C (26 June 2005) [FullText]