Cleveland Clinic, one of the leading hospitals in the US, has announced an agreement with Maccabi Health Services for the establishment of an accelerator for Israel digital health companies. The venture will be called eHealth Ventures.
Companies in the accelerator will receive guidance and consultation, access to specialists and business partners in the two entities, and initial financing from the accelerator. The budget for the venture was not announced, but it is believed that the two entities, together with other investors, are planning to allocate tens of millions of dollars to the projects for initial investments and follow-on investments. Cleveland Clinic said that the accelerator was designed for companies wishing to move some their business to the US at a later stage.
Maccabi has also been recently operating through its commercial company in cooperation with startups like Medial Research in the intestinal sphere and LabStyle Innovations Corporation (Dario) in the diabetes field.
Cleveland Clinic operates a number of innovation programs, and has been in close contact with Israel for several years through various programs for supporting innovation, from grants to direct investments. According to Global Cardiovascular Innovation Center business development director Thomas Sudow, among other things, Cleveland Clinic's commercial company has invested in Vectorious Medical Technologies; invested and participated in the founding of CDX, together with Merchavia Holdings and Investments Ltd. (TASE:MRHL); signed a strategic cooperation agreement with medical equipment investment fund Rainbow Medical; and cooperated with universities like Technion Israel Institute of Technology and the Weizmann Institute of Science. He adds that many Israeli companies cooperate with Cleveland Clinic in testing their technologies, including EarlySense, CardioStar, Sensible Medical Innovations, IceCure Medical, and others.
In a "Globes" interview, the former CEO of Cleveland Clinic's commercial company said that his company promoted its products until the relatively late stages, compared with the commercial companies of other hospitals.
Cleveland Clinic is in Ohio, which also has connections and cooperation with the Israeli high-tech industry at the state level, with an emphasis on biomed. In the past, both the Akron and Beachwood areas established programs for supporting Israeli companies and incubators wishing to operate in their territory. Among other things, this activity was aimed at creating jobs in Ohio.
Cleveland Clinic Innovations (CCI) chief innovation officer Thomas Graham said, "Extending CCI's activity to Israel will increase the flow of ideas between the countries and improve the pace of innovation, while providing opportunities for international commercialization of our intellectual property and great benefit for northeastern Ohio."
Steve Shapiro, who will manage the accelerator, said that CCI has “built a reputable brand as a global leader in health care corporate ventures” and that the group’s expertise in commercializing devices, therapeutics, diagnostics and especially health information technology wpuld be highly sought after by Israeli companies.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on July 8, 2015
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