Israel Matzav

And another brilliant Israeli technology

My mother a"h (may she rest in peace) suffered from Type-2 diabetes (adult onset). In her last years, when she was mostly or entirely wheelchair-bound, she suffered constantly from wounds that would not heal. Hundreds of hours were spent attempting to dress the wounds in ways that would help them to heal, but many of them never did, causing her annoying pain and discomfort.

Now, an Israeli company (who else) has developed a way of treating these types of wounds. The company is called MacroCure.

Dr. Mitchell Shirvan, company CEO, says MacroCure's trademarked CureXcell offers "the most comprehensive approach to the problem of chronic wounds, showing a very significant reduction of the mortality rate in patients with deep sternal wound infections and a markedly improved healing rate for severe pressure ulcers."

CureXcell uses a novel approach to wound repair - white blood cells from healthy donors that generally are discarded by blood banks.

"Usually, doctors infuse just red blood cells and plasma when they give blood transfusions," says Shirvan. "The white blood cells are usually not used in transfusions, but actually, they are very valuable for those suffering from chronic wounds, since this is where the core capacity of the body's ability to repair wounds is located. We developed CureXcell based on these cells, injecting it into the layer of the healthy cells just below the damaged tissue. The body absorbs those cells and uses them to begin repairing the wounds."

Patients begin to see an improvement in their condition within weeks.

...

CureXcell was developed several years ago by Prof. David Danon of the Israeli national blood service, Magen David Adom, and was since acquired by MacroCure, which has enhanced the product and markets it. So far, says Shirvan, "CureXcell has been administered by physicians to over 4,500 patients with severe chronic wounds who would probably have remained with those wounds for years."

The product has been approved for reimbursements under Israel's National Health Insurance program, and Shirvan says that, thanks to its success in the field in Israel, CureXcell is set to directly enter the last stage of the process for getting approval by the US Food and Drug Administration. "We anticipate receiving approval in the US in 2014 with completion of a successful Phase 3 development program for the treatment of chronic lower-extremity ulcers in patients with diabetes," Shirvan says.

MacroCure's 20 employees are further refining CureXcell and working on new treatments as well. The company, established in 2008, recently raised $26 million. The last financing round of $13 million was led by Viola Private Equity and Pontifax.

"We've received a substantial amount of interest from doctors, hospitals and HMOs in Israel," says Shirvan. "Besides helping cure chronic wounds for patients, which can lead to a reduction in amputations and even save lives, we save money for health-care providers and systems. We expect to grow significantly over the coming years."

Just a reminder that corporate finance, high tech, and securities law are all things I do in real life....

Mom could have used this one.

Labels: Israeli high tech, MacroCure, wound treatment

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 9:45 PM