Developing and supporting great businesses in Israel -- the Misgav Venture Accelerator

I am pleased to announce that Immunovative Therapies Ltd. has begun recruitment for clinical trials scheduled to begin, pending final FDA approval of the company's Investigational New Drug filing, in May 2009 in Carlsbad, California. Initial trials will be in blood cancers, such as leukemia and lymphoma, and in metastatic cancers.

Immunovative has developed Allostim™, an experimental drug based on live immune cells taken from healthy donors -- with no genetic matching required. These cells contain special immune stimulatory properties that develop after they are grown in culture for nine days. Once attached to tiny "beads" coated with specialized proteins (monoclonal antibodies), the properties are activated, and the cells are then implanted into cancer patients.

Allostim was designed to mimic the beneficial effects that occur in allogeneic bone marrow/stem cell transplant procedures while minimizing the severe side-effects. The experimental procedure does not require a matched tissue donor or pre-conditioning with chemotherapy/radiation. See the Company's animation illustrating the theoretical action of the experimental drug compared to standard transplant procedures.

More information regarding the blood cancer trials can be found on the Company's patient information website. Information about the trials can also be found on the National Institutes of Health-sponsored website clinicaltrial.gov. See specific information about the metastases trial or the blood cancer trials (blood cancers or advanced hematological malignancies).

Misgav companies raise $23 million in 2008
Misgav companies showed impressive growth in 2008. Thirteen companies raised a total of approximately $23 million. Despite the current recession, the number of employees (of all the companies) increased by 11%, as compared to 2007. The incubator's companies raised $12.5 million in 2007. An article about Misgav's raise appeared in Calcalist (in Hebrew). Read the full story.

Welcome to our newest company: PolyTouch
We are pleased to welcome our newest company, PolyTouch. Founded by Arik Levy and Ofek Levin, PolyTouch is developing a novel device for attaching surgical mesh to soft tissue. The first application is for hernia repair. PolyTouch won the 2007 BizTech competition sponsored by the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology. See news from the Ministry of Industry, Trade & Labor about PolyTouch.

Catheter from Flexicath receives Ministry of Health approval
Flexicath received approval from Israel's Ministry of Health for its innovative catheter system, FirmGrip. Read the articles about Flexicath in the Marker, News1, BeOK, and Motke (all in Hebrew).

The Marker reports on Headway's clinical trials
News about Headway's upcoming clinical trials at B'nei Zion Hospital in Haifa was reported in The Marker. The trial of the Company's Occiflex device will be performed on 10 patients suffering from chronic neck pain. Read the article (in Hebrew).

In other news from Headway ... the Company was named Start-Up of the Week in Globes at the beginning of February. Read the full article, "Relaxing the neck with love" (in Hebrew).

Pro-IV Medical featured in The Marker article
Pro-IV was featured in this article, "The start-ups wearing white coats," from The Marker on start-ups in the medical industry. Read the full article (in Hebrew). http://www.trendlines.com/files/Pro-IV%20Marker.pdf

JetGuide featured in Frost & Sullivan report
JetGuide's bone drilling monitoring system was described in a recent Frost & Sullivan "Medical Device Technology Alert."

Breakthrough procedure uses Virtual Ports device
The first cholecystectomy (removal of the gall bladder) in Israel using the NOTES procedure made use of Virtual Ports' EndoGrab. The surgery, performed by a surgical team led by Dr. Yoav Mintz, took place at Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem. Two EndoGrab tips were used for retraction. Read more about the successful procedure.

Scorpion anchoring device successful in pre-clinical test
Scorpion Surgical Technologies reported a successful pre-clinical test at a laboratory in Innsbruck, Austria. The Company's unique curved spinal anchoring device was connected to two vertebrae. Dr. Nissim Ohana, head of Spine Unit (Department of Orthopedics) at Rabin Medical Center conducted the test. Read the press release (English or Hebrew).

Juvenis presents at IMCAS
Lior Yankelson, founder of Juvenis and Misgav's VP business development, was among the presenters at January's IMCAS Congress in Paris. Juvenis is developing, Tenergel™, a flexible dermal filler for soft tissue repair, fill, or augmentation. Lior spoke about hydrophobic injectable biodegradable fillers at the Congress's New Devices, Research & Development, Symposia. IMCAS (International Master Course on Aging Skin) is considered one of the most important plastic surgery meetings in Europe. More than 2,500 registrants from 60 different countries attended this year's Congress. Learn more about Juvenis.

LifeBond appears in MedTech Insights
LifeBond was mentioned in the Start-Up News of the February 2009 issue of MedTech Insights. The Company is developing gelatin-based surgical sealants and absorbable hemostats for wound closure and sutured closure augmentation. Ishay Attar, former VP business development at Misgav, is LifeBond's CEO and founder.

HTL names new manager
Dr. Ohad Karnieli has been named the manager of HTL. He was formerly the VP R&D of Do-Ckoop Technologies. HTL is developing a breakthrough lipid emulsion for total parenteral nutrition, one that is "tailored" to the body's needs. Learn more about HTL.

The U.S. health care industry is changing. Hear from four U.S. experts in the health care industry about how these changes will affect companies developing and selling products in the United States. See more information about the program and presenters.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Misgav collaborates with IsraA.L.S.
Misgav's association with the non-profit organization IsraA.L.S. was featured in the Hebrew press. Misgav and IsraA.L.S. have joined together to invest in projects focused on research into the degenerative illness ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease. Read the press reports and the article in Globes (both in Hebrew).

DailyMaily interviews Steve Rhodes
Misgav CEO Steve Rhodes was interviewed by the DailyMaily. Steve claims, "In times of instability and crises, the incubators are an ideal solution." Read the full interview (in Hebrew).

Monthly managers' meeting
Our monthly managers' meeting in December featured attorney Ayal Shenhav, founder of the Shenhav & Co. law firm. Ayal and his team covered a number of issues of importance for young companies, including how to negotiate term sheets and preparing for due diligence.