Ministerial Committee Recommends $450 Mil. Biotech Investment Fund
The team appointed by the Ministerial Committee On Science & Technology has recommended that the government
needs to invest $450m. in biotechnology, to bolster the country's leading international position in this sector. Of this
amount, $200m would be invested in a flagship project and an additional $250m in training and laboratories. The
team added that the project must be innovative and unique, involve at least 10 research teams and hundreds of
workers, and represent different disciplines in which Israel has an absolute advantage. Some sectors recommended
include nano-medicine, cellular applications in disease control or pharmacological imaging. The $450m investment
should be spread over five years. The report calls on the government to recognize biotech as a national priority and
discusses social, scientific and commercial implications. The team further recommended that annual investments be
made to create a $5m medical research foundation, and an $18m foundation for developing
new technologies. Another $7m should be invested in research centers, $2m in towards regulation issues and $18m to
promote the industrialization of scientific research.
Israel's National Biotechnology Committee released its annual report on the state of the sector on 20 May, presenting
its survey of the major Israeli biotech firms. According to the results, there were 160 biotechnology companies in
Israel during the past year, employing a total of 4,000 people. During 1999, there were 135 companies with 3,800
employees. Sales in the sector rose by 33% in 2000 over 1999's totals, amounting to $800m. Under the aegis of
biotechnology are included the sub-sectors of pharmaceuticals, agriculture and diagnostic systems. Sales in the
pharmaceutical field accounted for 71.5% of the biotechnology sector, compared to 66.9% in 1999. Sales from
agricultural products accounted for 18.3% of the sector, compared to 22.8% in 1999 and 26.5% in 1997. However,
the number of companies in agricultural biotechnology grew to 54 in 2000 from 48 in 1999. Sales of medical
diagnostics accounted for 4.7% of revenues, compared to 3.9% in 1999, with two new companies in this
sub-sector bringing the total of firms to 35 in 2000. There were 25 bio-tech start-ups in 2000, up 16 from 1999, with
all of the new entities in the medical sector.
Investments in Biotech Industry Grow
Israel Team Grows Heart Cells From Human Embryonic Stem Cells
In the first six months of 2001 investments in biotech companies totaled $130 million, a growth of 54% over the
similar period in 2000,($87 million) and nearly double the amounted in biotechnology the first half of 1999. D-Pharm
and Quark Biotech and a third firm are expected to close financing rounds and by the end of September, raising the
2001 total financing to $185 million.
Since the isolation of human embryonic stem cells three years ago, scientists have been excited about the prospect of
using these cells to produce all the different types of tissues in our body, such as heart tissue to repair damaged hearts.
Now researchers at Haifa's Technion-Israel Institute of Technology have for the first time succeeded in growing the
precursors of heart cells from human embryonic stems cells. While other researchers recently reported on the use of
stem cells from bone marrow to repair the hearts in mice, the research at the Israel Institute of Technology is a step
forward in two important ways. It is the first time that human, as opposed to mouse stem cells have been induced to
form proto-heart cells. In addition, it is the first time that human embryonic stem cells have been made to differentiate
into heart cell tissue. In addition, the techniques developed could produce other types of human tissue.
The next step in moving towards clinical applications, such as injecting these cells into damaged human hearts, is to
significantly increase the number of cells produced. To do this, the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology team is
experimenting with different combinations of growth factors. The Technion-Israel Institute of Technology is Israel's
leading scientific and technological center for applied research and education. It commands a worldwide reputation for
its pioneering work in computer science, biotechnology, water-resource management, materials engineering, aerospace
and medicine.