$8m in BIRD grants go to Israeli-US collaborations in agtech and healthImmunotherapy profiling, medication tracking, digital farming system among nine Israeli startups winning joint project grants. By Abigail Klein Leichman FEBRUARY 23, 2020, 2:30 PMOncoHost works toward improving personalized cancer immunotherapy. Photo: courtesy SHARE0TWEETSHARESHARE VIA WHATSAPPCOMMENTEMAILOncoHost, an Israeli startup working toward improved personalized cancer immunotherapy, is one of nine Israeli companies that received a total of $8 million in grants for joint projects from the Israel-U.S. Binational Industrial Research and Development (BIRD) Foundation.Binyamina-based OncoHost’s partner is RayBiotech, a life-sciences company in Peachtree Corners, Georgia. Their $1 million BIRD grant will help them develop and clinically validate a host response test for the early prediction of immunotherapy treatment responsiveness in non-small cell lung cancer patients.UNCOVER ISRAEL - Get the ISRAEL21cWeekly Edition free by emailSign Up Now!The money also will be used to further develop and implement an automated platform to help pharmaceutical companies speed up large-scale protein processing for personalized cancer therapy.The nine projects approved in this round are in addition to the 992 projects approved for BIRD Foundation funding during its 42-year history.The total investment in joint projects is over $350 million, helping to generate direct and indirect sales of more than $10 billion.The other projects getting grants for product development in this round are:• Advanced MemTech (Ness Ziona, Israel) and Agar Corporation (Houston, TX): oil-water separation membrane technology for the oil & gas industries.• AgroScout (Misgav, Israel) and Birdstop (San Francisco, CA): a digital agronomy system for automated early detection of crop diseases and pests using a drone-in-a-box platform.• DosentRx (Afula, Israel) and Contents Trader (Houston, TX): novel technology for homecare medication tracking and management and integration into the U.S. specialty pharmacy ecosystem.• Fluence Water Products and Innovation (Caesarea, Israel) and Energy Systems Group, LLC (Newburgh, IN): a new energy-efficient process for nitrogen removal in water resource recovery facilities that use anaerobic digesters for sludge treatment.• GaitBetter (Haifa, Israel) and Spaulding Rehabilitation Network (Charlestown, MA): a motor-cognitive intervention to improve gait and mobility in stoke survivors by adding a virtual reality (VR) experience to treadmill training.• MDI Health Technologies(Herzliya, Israel) and Thermo Fisher Scientific (Waltham, MA): a system for providing personalized and precise medication treatments.• Nanolock Security (Nitzanei-Oz, Israel) and Micron Technology (Boise, ID): a cybersecurity solution to prevent and monitor persistent attacks on connected media devices.• Raicol Crystals (Rosh Ha’ayin, Israel) and Qubitekk, Inc. (Bakersfield, CA): an efficient miniaturized entangled photon source for quantum computing.Each project also will access private-sector funding, boosting the total value of the nine projects to approximately $18 million.i
FLC Price at posting:
34.5¢ Sentiment: Buy Disclosure: Held
