Misgav Newsletter Q4 2009
Vol. 5 No. 4
2009 opened with a lot of anxiety and concern; the financial markets seemed to be in freefall and there was near existential concern about the stability of the global banking system. And while it was a difficult year, our companies survived the year admirably – thanks in no small part to the hard work of their managers, employees, and directors – and even made great progress in many cases. A few highlights should suffice:
- Ten portfolio companies raised a total of more than $17 million.
- Two companies – HTL High Tech Lipids and Headway – signed strategic agreements with large European partners.
- Virtual Ports and Flexicath both launched their initial sales efforts to strong responses from the market.
ETView almost doubled sales and, in the last few months of the year, signed three new distribution contracts that could be worth millions of dollars in sales in 2010.
- Immunovative Therapies began FDA-approved clinical trials in the US on its new cancer drug and we are very optimistic that the results will be good.
- Four great new companies joined Misgav this year: Vital View, PolyTouch, Stimatix GI, and IonMed.
On another positive note, in October we moved into our new, larger offices in the Misgav Business Park. The new offices were designed to provide a great environment for entrepreneurship, with bright, comfortable offices, meeting rooms and common areas, and the beginnings of central chemical and mechanical laboratories. If you have not yet visited us in the new offices, you are invited to stop by for a tour and a cup of coffee.
As we start 2010, we are looking forward to another year of exciting growth. The opportunities at Misgav and our young companies are practically endless and I hope that you will consider joining us – as an entrepreneur, investor, or partner.
Very best wishes for a healthy, peaceful, and prosperous 2010,
Steve Rhodes, CEO
Misgav Venture Accelerator
NEWS
ETView signs exclusive distributorship in FranceETView, the company that developed the tracheoscopic ventilation tube (TVT) with an embedded video camera for continuous airway monitoring, kicked-off their penetration of the French healthcare market with the signing of an exclusive distributor agreement in November. The ETView team has already begun solidifying operations in France with sales training sessions, and has received the green light from the public heath administration to equip hospitals in Paris, and also acquired authorization to enter French military hospitals. ETView were enthusiastically received at a recent ICU conference in Toulouse, France, (attended by over 500 doctors), which resulted in numerous requests for demo units. ETView is currently in serious negotiations with many distributors worldwide; Scandinavia, Europe, India, Asia, and Australia, as a result of contacts made at Medica.
Wound care co EnzySurge raises $4.1mWound care treatment developer EnzySurge Ltd. has raised $4.1 million, at a company value of $20 million. The company said that it originally planned to raise $2.5 million, but increased the amount on strong demand. EnzySurge has raised $11 million altogether, including the present round. All the funding has come from private investors, including doctors, scientists, and businesspeople. No venture capital funds have invested in the company. Read the Press ReleaseWelcome to IonMed, the newest addition to the Misgav Venture Accelerator
IonMed is an innovative biomedical device company established to develop and commercialize Cold Plasma Tissue Welding technology for medical applications; initially in the cosmetic surgery sector. The Company is headed up by Amnon Lam, CEO, and began operations within the framework of the Misgav Venture Accelerator in November 2009. Contact information: Amnon Lam Mobile: +972-547712818 amnonlam@gmail.comPolyTouch completes pre-clinical trials PolyTouch has successfully finished the prototype development stage and is preparing to apply for FDA 510(K) clearance. As Dr. Nissim Geron, the Company’s medical advisor remarked, “Based on preclinical trials PatchAssist is the device that can make a laparoscopic technique of hernia repair easier and quicker. It can reduce the operation time by 25%-30%.” Read more Stimatix launches their new websiteStimatix announces the launch of their new website, dedicated to their revolutionary new stoma management solution which promises to become the new standard of treatment for people with stomas - greatly improving their quality of life. Visit the site at: www.stimatix-gi.com
Medica 2009
Seven Misgav companies attended Medica in Dusseldorf, Germany in November: ETView, Flexicath, ProIV, RealView, EnzySurge, Virtual Ports and FlowSense. This year the event hosted almost 138,000 trade visitors from over 100 countries. It is the global No.1 meeting point for the medical sector which aims at providing both the business and science sector with assistance to find partners in Europe for product development, manufacturing and licensing agreements, research co-operation, joint ventures or similar partnerships.
Todd Dollinger, CEO of The Trendlines Group, was on hand to give his impressions about this years' Medica.
As Louis Pasteur wrote, “Chance favors the prepared mind”. The value of making proper preparations for conferences was, once again, made eminently clear to me at Medica; the world’s largest medical conference, where seven of our portfolio companies were exhibiting. Read Todd's article
Two Misgav companies attend "NASS"
Two companies, Scorpion Surgical Technologies and JetGuide attended the Annual Meeting of The North American Spine Society (NASS), a multidisciplinary organization dedicated to advancing high quality, evidence-based and ethical spine care. Spine specialists from around the globe were invited to the 24th Annual Meeting in San Francisco in November. The companies’ representatives held numerous meetings with potential investors and strategic partners at the conference. Read more about this event
Pennsylvania gubernatorial candidate's first visit to Israel
Dan Onorato, candidate for governor of Pennsylvania in 2010, recently visited Israel with a delegation from the United Jewish Federation of Pittsburgh and the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia. Onorato, toured Israel from north to south and provided many interesting insights about Israel for the gubernatorial hopeful. He feels Israel is a strong ally, a good business partner, and is worth modeling. Steve Rhodes, Misgav's CEO and Maura Rosenfeld, New Projects Manager, attended a special meeting with Dan Onorato, arranged by the Misgav Regional Council, with many high level municipal leaders in attendance. Read the Press Release
Investor "speed dating" event
Financial management firm Brooks-Keret Ltd. and Misgav sister company Signal Business Development, hosted a high energy investor speed dating event in November for 16 biomedical and cleantech start-ups. The start-ups made six-minute presentations to the investors, and then held one-on-one meetings. Migav companies participating in the event were: Headway, Polytouch and Juvenis. This event was the subject of a Globes article, and our own picture gallery. See it here
New CEO for RealView
Gershon Goldenberg, RealView's Co-Founder and CTO, has been appointed the company’s CEO.
Conference news
This year's Advamed-MarketReach America conference and the Boston-Haifa Life Science Initiative Delegation to Boston were attended by Headway, PolyTouch and RealView. There, they had the opportunity to present their companies to venture capital funds and angel investors, and network with FDA and reimbursement experts. Read more
AdvaMed is the organization of medical device manufacturers – over 90% of all healthcare technology purchased in the United States and 50% worldwide is produced by AdvaMed members. So when the organization holds their annual conference, it is guaranteed to be a high-powered event. Read more
NEW PERSONNEL
We are happy to welcome the following new employees:
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Anat Resnik - our new Integrated Logistics Manager. She is handling the purchasing for the Misgav Incubator companies, The Trendlines Group and Signal Business Development.
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Ronen Koyfman - the new CFO for The Trendlines Group. Ronen has an extensive background in high level finance management and consulting.
EVENTS
Round Table for Senior Life Science Executives
Have a unique opportunity to discuss with one of the 100 most powerful people in the US healthcare industry, the state of the American healthcare industry today and trends moving forwards ("What Israeli Medical Device Companies Need to Know about the US Healthcare Reforms").
Round tables will take place in Haifa on January 18 and in Tel Aviv on January 19, with an opportunity to apply for pre scheduling an introductory one-on-one meeting with Ms. Snyder.
If you are a decision-maker in a medical device company with an interest in the US market and a product ready or almost ready to sell, then follow this link for more information.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Call for new life science projects!
We always are looking for new life science projects to bring to Misgav. If you have a project, or know someone who does, please contact Maura Rosenfeld at 050.877.7012 or maura@misgav-venture.com. We look forward to hearing from you!
We've moved to new offices: The Misgav Venture Accelerator and our portfolio companies have relocated to beautiful new, spacious offices in the Misgav Business Park. Our new offices are located on the top floor of The Trendlines Group Building, 17 Sky Street. Although our address has changed, our phone number will remain the same.
COMPANY NEWS
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