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In order to understand the impact of technology on the health freedom of many patients, we turned to CEOs and senior managers in order to understand how these innovations have become the modern pillars of health freedom that offers hope, healing and the promise of a brighter and healthier future.
“When I think of the young people who survived the Nova Party with post-trauma, of the heroes who returned from Gaza with disabilities and have to deal with the pain while relearning daily activities, and of the war veterans who feel the pain and trauma again, I feel a real obligation to relieve their pain” she notes Hagit KaminCEO of SyqeAir – inhaler and cartridge for medical cannabis.
“The technology of our inhaler allows patients to reduce the intensity of the pain that accompanies them every day through an effective and safe solution that gives them the autonomy to control their own treatment. It is a technology that gives patients the ability to manage their pain treatment without smoking cannabis and suffering the effects of smoking. This is a solution designed to support my life everyday and make the transition to a normal routine a more accessible process,” Kamin adds.
“Thanks to the technology of the inhaler, patients can treat their pain anytime and anywhere, without depending on others and control the physical or mental pain. This is a solution that puts the person at the center and allows them to be active, involved and in control of their destiny, which makes the experience of living with pain much less limited In this way, we believe that we not only help treat pain, but also contribute to the personal freedom of each and every one of our users,” she concludes.
Novartis Israel also has unique treatments that free patients as much as possible from the shackles of the disease. Nana ben Zvithe medical director at Novartis Israel stated: “The unique home treatment for multiple sclerosis allows patients to lead a normal life and live alongside the disease. Multiple sclerosis is a chronic disease of the central nervous system that impairs the normal function of nerve cells by damaging the substance that surrounds them – myelin.
The disease is most common among young people aged 20-40. The damage to the myelin causes disturbances in the transmission of electrical currents between the nerve cells and makes it difficult for the brain to function properly. Because of this, the effect on the patients is reflected in the functioning of the entire body – which of course disrupts the daily functioning of the person dealing with the disease.”
Dr. Nana Ben Zvi adds that “in the past, multiple sclerosis was considered a disease that was characterized by a rapid rate of progression, but today through the new technologies and treatments it is possible to see the slowing of the rate of progression of the disease and an improvement in the symptoms of the disease and in the quality of life that allow independence and the ability to manage the disease in home care. Through these technologies, most patients can lead a full life alongside the disease.”
Another pharmaceutical company that takes care of releasing patients from dependence is Gefen Medical. VP of Technologies in the company, Shahar Cohen Refers to one of the leading and life-changing technologies for patients and states: “There are over half a million people dealing with diabetes in Israel.
In the past, the well-known monitoring tool was through a finger prick, but in recent years, new technologies have changed the lives of diabetics, made it significantly easier for them and allow real-time testing of sugar levels without the need for a needle. The Freestyle Libra 2 technology, from Abbott, is a system for monitoring blood sugar without a stab that allows measurement of blood sugar levels every minute using a subcutaneous sensor attached to the arm.
The system reports directly to the smartphone about the sugar status and even warns of situations in which the sugar level is low or high. The system allows real freedom for the diabetic public as they can live a full life alongside their diabetes and be exposed to the results in real time.” According to Cohen: “Besides the significant advantage of monitoring sugar levels in real time, the system also makes it possible to share the data with up to 20 close people, thereby helping in dealing with diabetes “.
Giving hope to cancer patients
The Rehovot-based Biolojic Design company just recently announced a move to the second phase of the trial it is conducting with the first antibody designed by artificial intelligence that entered human trials.
The experiment is being conducted in Australia and the USA by Elos, the company that is developing the AU-007 antibody together with Biolojic Design and the Life Sciences Venture Capital Fund – ATP. The antibody was designed using an artificial intelligence platform and is intended for the elimination of solid cancerous tumors.
The transition to the second phase proves that it is possible to design safe antibodies with clinical activity by the computer. This is a significant step in the transition to smart treatments based on artificial intelligence. The second phase continues after positive results from the first phase, which show early activity against tumors in patients who have undergone multiple treatments. The trial evaluated the safety, tolerability, immunogenicity and clinical activity of AU-007 in patients with unresectable locally advanced or metastatic cancer.
The results showed that the tumors shrank in patients with melanoma, bladder cancer, kidney and lung cancer. In the second phase, AU-007 will be evaluated in combination with a low-dose Proleukin vaccine with an extension to the melanoma and renal cell carcinoma group.
“The previous generation of drugs tried to influence a complex biological process and reached a roadblock, for the reason that these are very simple molecules that try to influence very complex processes,” says a professor Yanai Ofranfounder and CEO of Biolojic Design.
“The antibody AU-007 knows how to activate the immune system against cancer through IL-2 and at the same time prevent IL-2 from calming the immune system, which is its natural function. There are no other drugs that we are aware of today that have been able to activate the immune system without creating a counter-activity designed to calm this activity, which indicates the abilities of artificial intelligence to influence human biology in a unique way.’
The New Phase company has developed a technology in a new and groundbreaking field called electromagnetic hyperthermia, which is based on nanoparticles that can be heated inside the patient’s body for the treatment of stage 4 metastatic cancer.
The technology was developed based on the scientific fact that a cancer cell is more sensitive to heat than a healthy cell. A cancer cell collapses at a temperature of 45 degrees, while a healthy cell manages to hold up to a temperature of 55 degrees.
Based on this data, the company developed the technology so that the iron-based nanoparticles that are injected into the body will have the ability to heat to a predetermined temperature of 50 degrees.
The heating of the nanoparticles is performed by an electromagnetic field which is transmitted from a machine also developed by New Phase, similar in structure to an MRI machine, but transmitting an electromagnetic field instead of a magnetic field.
In order to control the maximum temperature of the nanoparticle, New Phase uses a physical phenomenon called “capsule heat”, this phenomenon allows materials from the Phase Change Materials family to wrap the iron nuclei of which the nanoparticle is composed and stop the heating of the iron nuclei when they reach a temperature of 50 degrees.
Since the company’s therapeutic goal is cancer in the metastatic stage, a systemic treatment system is required which will damage cancer cells that are sensitive to heat as mentioned above, and will not damage healthy cells.
NewPhase is conducting a first phase trial in humans at Billinson Hospital. So far, over 15 patients from various types of cancer have been treated without side effects, and some patients receive repeated treatments in light of the clinical findings.
After the company received FDA approval for a clinical trial in the US, it will begin a clinical trial in the US this summer as well.
“New Phase was established to turn cancer from a life-threatening disease into a chronic disease so that the disease can be managed, prolonging patients’ lives over time without side effects” says Ofer his co-founder and CEO of New Phase.