Israel is a powerhouse in medical innovation. We’ve chosen a dozen standouts from a field with many game-changing candidates.
Israeli ingenuity stands behind some of the world’s most amazing medical advances of the past few decades.
Some superstar examples: The ReWalk personal exoskeleton from Lifeward that enables paraplegic individuals to walk; the Given Imaging (now Medtronic) PillCam for visualizing the gastrointestinal tract; and Copaxone, a groundbreaking multiple sclerosis treatment.
“Almost every scientific medical breakthrough has some Israeli connection, whether in research, involvement in the leadership of the developing company, and more,” states the most recent annual report from Israel Advanced Technology Industries (IATI), the umbrella organization of the country’s high-tech and life-science sectors.
IATI estimates the number of active Israeli life-sciences companies at around 1,800, specializing in biotechnology (24%), digital health (30%), medical devices (36%) and pharmaceuticals (10%).
“Israel has global leadership in many fields, including the interfaces between hardware, software and biology and AI-based research. Those are used to develop drugs, make the best decisions for patient care and even predict success based on past results of experiments.”
Out of that vast field, we’ve picked 12 exceptional Israeli medical innovations from the past few years to highlight, listed below in alphabetical order.
1. CartiHeal
Founded in 2009 and acquired by UK-based Smith+Nephew early this year, CartiHeal developed Agili-C, a one-step treatment for knee cartilage regeneration approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Agili-C is indicated to treat a wide patient population, including those with mild to moderate osteoarthritis, a previously unaddressed condition, as well as the approximately 700,000 patients who undergo cartilage repair annually in the United States.
The porous, biocompatible and resorbable scaffold promotes natural regeneration of the articular cartilage and restoration of its underlying subchondral bone.
2. CorNeat Vision
According to the World Health Organization, approximately 2 million new cases of corneal blindness are reported each year. And there aren’t nearly enough donor corneas available
While KPro is expected to get initial FDA marketing approval sometime in 2025, CorNeat’s lineup of eye implants also includes the recently FDA-approved CorNeat EverPatch (a synthetic tissue patch designed to revolutionize ophthalmic surgeries) and the CorNeat eShunt glaucoma drainage device.
3. Epitomee Medical
In September, the FDA cleared the Epitomee Capsule, an ingestible oral prescription device to support weight management in adults with a body mass index (BMI) of 25–40 alongside diet and exercise.
After this drug-free capsule is swallowed, it absorbs water in the stomach and creates a three-dimensional matrix that creates a sensation of fullness in the stomach mechanically. It then disintegrates and is safely flushed out of the digestive tract.
In a multicenter trial across nine US states, overweight and obese adults who took one Epitomee capsule twice daily for 24 weeks, alongside diet and exercise, demonstrated significantly better weight loss compared to those receiving a placebo.
Epitomee Medical is also developing a platform for the oral delivery of biologics, which currently are injected. This innovative platform is designed to transport drugs to the absorption site with enhanced bioavailability.
4. IceCure Medical
IceCure’s ProSense Cryoablation System provides a minimally invasive treatment option to destroy benign and cancerous tumors of the breast, kidney, lung, liver and other organs by freezing them with liquid nitrogen.
The office-based procedure is performed under local anesthesia. In comparison to surgical tumor removal, recovery is faster and the patient experiences less pain and fewer complications.
ProSense is marketed and sold worldwide, including in the United States, Europe and China, for several approved indications.
Following results of a successful study published in the British Journal of Radiology, an FDA medical advisory panel voted in November to recommend US marketing authorization for ProSense in treating early-stage, low-risk breast cancer.
5. IR-MED
Pressure injuries (aka bedsores) affect 2.5 million patients per year in the United States alone, resulting in 60,000 deaths and $26.8 billion in healthcare spending.
Until now, PIs could only be detected by visual inspection, after they’ve already broken through the skin typically on heels, ankles, hips and tailbone. And visual detection is difficult in individuals with darker skin.
IR-MED has solved that problem with PressureSafe, a handheld infrared spectroscopy device with AI-based decision support. PressureSafe noninvasively identifies early-stage PIs under the skin, before they’re visible, with 92% accuracy regardless of patient skin tone.
PressureSafe was launched in two medical centers in Texas this year and will be introduced soon in a large medical center in New York.
IR-MED is using the same technology platform to develop DiaSafe for non-invasive early detection of diabetic foot ulcers.
6. MeMed
Difficulty distinguishing between bacterial and viral infections leads to widespread misuse of antibiotics, which fight only bacterial infections.
MeMed’s BV test is the first FDA-cleared host-immune response assay for accurately distinguishing between bacterial and viral infections in 15 minutes from a small blood sample.
Already used for tens of thousands of patients, BV translates the immune system’s complex signals into simple insights to optimize healthcare decision-making and improve patient outcomes. Data from the most recent controlled trial shows that it leads to a 62% relative reduction in unnecessary antibiotic prescription rates.
Meanwhile, the FDA recently granted Breakthrough Device Designation to the MeMed’s Severity test for rapid and accurate management of suspected sepsis patients.
7. MobileODT
Cervical cancer is the fourth most common cancer in women worldwide, causing more than 300,000 deaths annually.
MobileODT is revolutionizing cervical cancer screening and treatment, especially in places where women have inadequate healthcare access and often don’t return for follow-ups.
Its unique “screen and treat” point-of-care tool can detect cancer via biomedical image capture and analysis. If any precancerous lesions are found, they can be treated by MobileODT’s portable, battery-operated ThermoGlide device. All in a single visit.
MobileODT’s cervical cancer screening and treatment devices are used more than 60 countries.
8. Nanox AI
Selected for a Special Mention in TIME’s Best Inventions of 2024 list, Nanox AI helps clinicians extract actionable insights from routine medical imaging that otherwise may go unnoticed.
This deep-learning medical imaging technology can identify asymptomatic, undetected chronic conditions of the heart, liver or bone by analyzing routine medical CT scans performed for any clinical indication.
9. Nuvo
Also appearing on the TIME Best Inventions of 2024 list, Nuvo’s FDA-cleared Invu remote pregnancy monitor enables the delivery of remote non-stress tests (NSTs) and maternal and fetal heart rate monitoring.
Not only does this revolutionary system allow expectant moms to undergo monitoring in the comfort of their homes, and ease clinicians’ office load, but also provides data-driven personalized pathways that can improve health outcomes.
Invu is used by health providers and research institutions across the United States and Israel and will be introduced in Europe in 2025, subject to granting of the CE mark.
10. Salignostics
About 840 million pregnancy tests are sold annually. Salignostics’ Salistick is the only one that doesn’t require urine or blood.
Pioneering a new frontier in home diagnostics, this CE-approved, saliva-based pregnancy test is sold in more than 1,500 stores in the UK, Ireland, Sweden and Israel, and was named a 2023 TIME magazine Best Invention for its high accuracy, non-invasive approach, and potential for global expansion.
Salignostics is working on obtaining FDA approval for Salistick in the US market, and meanwhile is developing saliva test kits for throat cancer and streptococcus.
11. Syqe Air
Medical cannabis can ease many health conditions, from clinical depression to chronic pain. But uniform dosing is difficult.
The SyqeAir Inhaler is the only metered-dose medical cannabis inhaler, a unique technology that allows chronic pain patients to receive a precise, consistent and lowest effective dose of the active cannabis ingredient THC by inhalation, with minimum psychoactive adverse effects.
The cannabis is sealed in a designated cartridge, which is loaded securely into SyqeAir, ready for use. The cartridge contains 60 VaporChips, each the size of a SIM card. Each VaporChip contains a uniform amount of raw cannabis inflorescence grown in compliance with Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) standards.
12. TytoCare
TytoCare has transformed family healthcare through its Home Smart Clinic, based on an easy-to-use, FDA-cleared device with embedded AI.
The device enables remote physical exams of lungs, ears, throat, heart and skin under the live virtual guidance of a doctor, without leaving home.
TytoCare also provides a Pro Smart Clinic for professional settings such as rural clinics, schools and workplaces.
TytoCare serves over 250 major health systems and health plans in the United States, Europe, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East.
After finding that respiratory diagnoses constitute over 40 percent of all diagnoses made using its virtual care solution, the company recently added two more AI-powered tools to the device for detecting wheezes and lung crackles that may need further attention.
