Shares in UltraShape Medical Ltd. (TASE: USLP) ballooned 50% by mid-afternoon on the TASE today to NIS 0.054, giving a market cap of NIS 80 million, after an honorable mention in "Time" magazine by David Kaufman's article about Yokne'am, described as "Israel's Silicon Valley of Beauty Technology". UltraShape has developed a non-invasive technique that uses ultrasound to remove fatty tissue and for body contouring.
The positive mention follows a good write-up on the firm in Oprah Winfrey's "O" magazine.
Kaufman says that the battle of bulge is being waged at Yokne'am, in whose "hillside industrial parks is perhaps the world's largest concentration of aesthetics-technology companies."
Kaufman says that UltraShape's technique has been used more than 200,000 times in 57 countries. The company's device has been approved in Europe and Canada, and the device is now in clinical trials ahead of an application for US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval in early 2011.
However, Kaufman writes, "One hurdle to approval may be the procedure's inconsistency: According to nine clinical trials funded by the company between 2004 and 2008, patients undergoing the four-session, six-week program lost an average 3.3-6.3 centimeters from problem areas like love handles and bulging tummies. But while in extreme cases some people shed up to 10 centimeters or more, others walked away with no noticeable difference."
Yokne'am is also the home of Given Imaging Ltd. (Nasdaq: GIVN; TASE: GIVN), Syneron Medical Ltd. (Nasdaq: ELOS), and other life sciences companies.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on June 9, 2010
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2010