Israeli Ambassador to the United States Sallai Meridor and Governor Martin O'Malley at the MarketReach America welcome dinner honoring MIDC Founding Chairman Hanan Sibel

MarketReach America Participating Companies:

Althera Medical Ltd. is developing a novel cancer treatment, DART (Diffusing Alpha-emitters Radiation Therapy), for head, neck, lung, brain, pancreas, breast, prostate, liver, cervix, rectum, esophagus, and soft tissue sarcomas.
ArioMedical Ltd. is developing technology to excise and remove plaque from occluded arteries.
Efratgo Ltd. is developing orthopedic technologies to provide a stable dynamic fixation of hip fractures.
Hospitec Respiration Ltd. is developing medical devices to prevent endotracheal tube complications.
HY Biopharma Inc. has developed technology that regulates cell replication through inhibition of cancel cell signaling pathways.
ImmunArray Ltd. is developing a blood test for the early diagnosis of lung cancer.
Immunovative Therapies Ltd. is developing the immune cell therapy product, AllostimTM, a powerful, non-toxic therapeutic method to enhance and stimulate the immune system of cancer patients.
Lavi Cardiatec developed a non-invasive device to measure and assess endothelial dysfunction, the first indication of arteriosclerosis or coronary artery disease.
MaimoniDex RA is developing a humanized monoclonal antibody, anti-CD44vRA, that recognizes specific proteins expressed on the surface of pathological inflammatory cells but not on normal cells.
NanoVibronix is developing products to prevent bacterial and biofilm build up on in-dwelling medical devices.
Pro-IV Medical Ltd. is developing technologies to assure the safety of intravenous medical infusions and blood transfusions.
RAD BioMed is a life science incubator with several state-of-the- art companies from nearby Tel Aviv University and Sheba Medical Center.
Target-In is developing a new line of pharmaceuticals based on proprietary Apofusions technology for human targeted therapy.
Tagra Biotechnologies Ltd. has developed microencapsulation technologies for the delivery of active ingredients in pharmaceuticals.
2020 Gene Systems, a Maryland company with a lab in Israel, is developing novel protein biomarker-based diagnostics for both early disease detection and personalized medicine.

Record-Breaking Attendance at MarketReach America

“Twice as many Israeli companies attended MarketReach America’s Medical Devices and Life Science Conference this year than last year,” reported Barry Bogage, Executive Director of the Maryland/Israel Development Center (MIDC). More then 150 people attended the conference on July 26, 2007 to meet 14 Israeli biomedical companies. In addition, nearly 300 people attended the conference gala dinner, including such luminaries as Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley and Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Sallai Meridor. This year’s dinner honored MIDC Founding Chairman Hanan Sibel.

Abba D. Poliakoff, Chairman of the MIDC, proudly noted, “Fewer than 50 people attended the first conference four years ago. The number of attendees has since exploded, reflecting the huge interest in the exciting technology coming out of Israel, Maryland’s attractiveness as a place to do business, and the potential economic pay-off of doing business with Israeli companies.”

The medical devices and life science conference is a MarketReach America program to introduce Israeli entrepreneurs to American investors, scientists, and representatives from private industry and regulatory agencies. “One of our goals is that Israeli firms will choose Maryland as their American headquarters,” said Barry Bogage. “To encourage productive working relationships, we provide them with corporate and investor introductions.” MarketReach America is a corporate partnering program to help Israeli entrepreneurs enter the U.S. market. It is a joint program of the MIDC and The Trendlines Group of Israel.

Results abound: Two companies already received investments as a result of participating in the program. The Daily Record reported that Dr. Harold Jacob, a Baltimore native who moved to Israel in 1995 for religious reasons, was one of the Israeli business owners who attended the conference. Jacob is CEO of NanoVibronix, the medical device company he founded in Nesher, Israel. Jacob, in his second year attending MarketReach America, has won American investment for his firm and likely will set up NanoVibronix’ s American headquarters in Baltimore within the next 18 months. There are currently 30 Israeli companies who have established offices in Maryland and others – like NanoVibronix – who plan to join them. Dr. Jacob has follow up meetings with the two of the medical device corporations that participated.

Governor O’Malley Announces $1.6 Million Investment in Israeli Biotech Company by Maryland Venture Capital Firm

At the June 25th Market Reach America conference dinner, Governor O’Malley announced that Nobska Ventures, a Maryland-based venture capital firm, invested $1.6 million in Innovea Medical, an Israeli company developing technology to make cardiovascular imaging procedures safer and more accurate. “Innovea could establish an office in Maryland within the next six months to a year,” said Robert Rosenbaum, a managing director of Nobska and MIDC board member. The company’s technology already is in trials at both the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and the University of Maryland, Baltimore. Nobska Ventures invests in early-stage technology firms in the mid-Atlantic region and Israel.

Governor O’Malley Increases MIDC Grant by 50%

Also at the June 25th MarketReach America conference dinner, Governor O’Malley announced that he would give the MIDC an additional $50,000 grant to expand its Israeli marketing activities and the MarketReach America program. To date, MarketReach America has focused on one project per year, which includes an Israeli conference and a visit to Maryland by a delegation of Israeli companies from a target industry such as life sciences. With the new funding, MarketReach America will add a homeland security program with a conference in Israel in December and a delegation visit to Maryland in February. MarketReach America will hold the life science program again in the spring and summer of 2008. A focused foreign direct investment attraction strategy will also be launched.

MIDC Announces the Launch of the Maryland/Israel Development Fund

MIDC is preparing to implement the Maryland/Israel Development Fund (MIDF) for Israeli and Maryland companies seeking funding to conduct joint research projects. Under the terms of the Joint Declaration to form the MIDF, signed in 2004 by former Maryland Governor Robert L. Ehrlich and then Vice Prime Minister of Israel Ehud Olmert, the Maryland Department of Business & Economic Development and Israel's Ministry of Industry and Trade agreed to promote, facilitate and support cooperative industrial research and development by Maryland and Israeli company teams. The State of Maryland and the Government of Israel will fund fifty percent of the cost of the project. The remaining fifty percent will be split between the two companies conducting the joint research. Governor O'Malley authorized the formal launch of program. The MIDC will soon be issuing a Call for Proposals for applications from Maryland-Israel company
teams. All interested companies will then have 90 days to respond.