Elbit Imaging Ltd (EMITF)

[midastouch017]

Insightec

https://www.bioworld.com/articles/502209-israel-continues-to-shine-as-hub-of-med-tech-innovation

Tirat Carmel-based Insightec produces magnetic resonance (MR)-guided focused ultrasound equipment. The company’s Exablate Neuro incisionless neurosurgery platform is the first such device to gain U.S. FDA approval for two movement-related neurological indications – medication-refractory essential tremor in 2016 and medication-refractory tremor from Parkinson’s disease in 2018. The platform is CE-marked for both indications, as well as for neuropathic pain.

Last March, Insightec inked definitive agreements for a $150 million series F financing led by Koch Disruptive Technologies (KDT), a subsidiary of Koch Industries. The round had a post-money valuation of $1.3 billion.

Brett Chugg, managing director at KDT, saw potential in Insightec early on. “We recognized that Insightec was going to be very disruptive, with an order of magnitude better outcomes and order of magnitude lower costs for patients and health care providers,” he told BioWorld. “Insightec’s technology puts patients’ wellbeing first by disrupting the traditional approach to treating neurological diseases – like essential tremor, the most common movement disorder – that can have a significant impact on quality of life.”

In August, KDT added a second Israeli med-tech venture to its portfolio, leading a $71 million series D round in Sight Diagnostics Ltd. Based in Tel Aviv, the company makes the first direct-from fingerstick complete blood count analyzer approved by the FDA. The system’s artificial intelligence (AI) engine uses machine vision that assesses blood imagery to identify cell types and anomalies – essentially turning a sample into more than 1,000 images – at the point of care.