Innovation Authority, Thomas Jefferson U. offer $1 million to health care innovators

Philadelphia’s Thomas Jefferson University has partnered with the Israel Innovation Authority (IIA) to offer $1 million to Israeli companies aiming to advance health care technology solutions.

Under the international project announced last week, four research and development-performing companies registered and operating in Israel will receive funding directly from the IIA and gain access to Jefferson’s leading academic medical center facilities.

The partnership hopes to provide Israeli firms with the assistance needed to break into in the US health care market. It comes as a direct result of the newly-opened Jefferson Israel Center, which hopes to foster bilateral innovation and global relationships in a range of academic and scientific fields.

“We’re investing our knowhow and sweat equity,” said Dr. Zvi Grunwald, executive director of the Jefferson Israel Center.

The goal of the program, he said, is to co-develop, test and pilot impactful technologies, products, services and devices within the rich environment that exists at Jefferson, which then would be transferred to other sites and settings.

“We are delighted to collaborate with a leading academic and medical center such as Jefferson,” said IIA chairman Dr. Ami Appelbaum.

“The combination of Israeli innovation and Jefferson’s clinical experience, expertise and facilities will enable the creation of cutting-edge solutions that will prove instrumental in laying the groundwork for the future of health care and providing superior personalized medical care.”

Jefferson will grant the selected Israeli companies access to its clinical, service line, administrative and leadership staff across a variety of care settings, such as inpatient, outpatient, ambulatory, urgent care, rehabilitation and community.

The companies will also benefit from opportunities to generate peer-reviewed scientific data to validate the effectiveness of their solutions and ensure alignment with demanding regulatory and commercial aspects of the US health care marketplace.

IIA will support up to 50% of the companies’ approved pilot expenses budget, covering expenditure on production upgrades and modification, regulatory conformation, utility patents and establishment of beta-sites.

Companies have until March 28 to submit expressions of interest. The winners will be announced in December, and the project is slated to start in January 2020.