Israel has 700 biomed companies: 401 medical devices companies, 130 biotechnology companies, 76 drug development companies, and 53 medical computerization companies, reports , according to Israel Life Sciences Industry (ILSI) ahead of its 10th annual conference, ILSI-Biomed 2011.
16% of the life sciences companies (110 companies) are early-stage start-ups, 11% (74 companies) are seed-stage start-ups, and 21% (146 companies) are conducting preclinical or clinical trials of their products.
43% of Israel's biomed companies generate profits, no small achievement for a fairly young and small industry. 214 companies were founded 2001, and the rest are less than a decade old.
"8% of the revenue-generating companies were founded in the past five years," said ILSI chairwoman Ruth Alon, a managing partner at Pitango Venture Capital.
Israel's life sciences industry grew by 12% in 2001-05, and has subsequently been stable, with 40-45 new companies a year. The last three years have been weak years for the industry, due to the global financial crisis, and 200 companies ceased operations.
169 companies focus on cardiovascular treatments, 57 are developing oncology therapies, and 44% are developing therapies for disorders of the central nervous system and brain.
Israel continues to stand out in the number of life sciences patents on both an absolute and per capita basis. Israel is in first place worldwide in medical devices patents per capita and fourth place in absolute terms. It is in second place in all biopharmaceuticals patents per capita and eighth place in absolute terms. Israel is also in first place worldwide for patents in the life sciences as a proportion of total patents awarded in the country.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on May 17, 2011
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