By Francesca Ming
The mood was upbeat at the recent 2024 ARC Summit in Tel Aviv, which, among a raft of healthtech good news, headlined the pivotal role of the Israel-based ARC Innovation Center as an incubator for global healthtech solutions.
Even amid the formidable challenges of the ongoing war and a grueling economic slowdown, Israel is powering forward on its journey towards becoming a global healthtech leader.
“Innovation is not just a buzzword at Sheba – it’s our core mission. Our medical innovations are not only a national imperative but a global one, contributing significantly to Israel’s economy and our standing in the world.”
That was the overriding message of the 2024 ARC Summit, hosted by Sheba Medical Center in Tel Aviv last week, where Israel’s prominence in health technology was on full display. The summit, which brought together top executives, clinicians, investors, and entrepreneurs to examine the future of medical innovation, was a hotbed of groundbreaking partnerships, new initiatives, and cutting-edge technologies.
“Israel is uniquely positioned to tackle some of the world’s most complex healthcare challenges,” said Prof. Yitshak Kreiss, Director General of Sheba, Israel’s largest hospital, in his opening address to the summit.
“Innovation is not just a buzzword at Sheba – it’s our core mission. Our medical innovations are not only a national imperative but a global one, contributing significantly to Israel’s economy and our standing in the world,” he said.
Also speaking during the opening plenum, Dror Bin, CEO of the Israel Innovation Authority, said that resilience has emerged as the defining characteristic of Israel’s healthtech ecosystem.
“Even when challenges seem insurmountable, Israeli tech companies not only endure but thrive,” he said, stressing that Israel continues to rank third globally in tech company density, behind only San Francisco and New York. “The convergence of global crises, such as climate change and pandemics, is driving new levels of innovation in healthcare technology, and Israel is uniquely positioned to lead in this space.”
From AI-driven healthcare to precision medicine, the summit showcased how Israeli startups and established players alike are harnessing disruptive technologies to push the boundaries of patient care. Healthtech has evolved into one of Israel’s economic cornerstones, with over 9,000 active technology companies in the country, many of them at the cutting edge of digital health and biotech.
At the heart of this transformation is Sheba’s ARC Innovation Center (Accelerate, Redesign, Collaborate), an incubator for global healthtech solutions. Since its founding in 2019, ARC has been at the forefront of advancing new models of care that merge technology with human-centered design, a theme that resonated strongly throughout the summit.
Profressor Eyal Zimlichman, Chief Innovation and Transformation Officer at Sheba and Director of ARC, said, “Healthcare systems worldwide are under immense strain, and this is exactly why ARC was established – to lead the global health revolution through innovation. Our focus is on bringing technologies that solve real problems to market, ensuring they have a tangible impact on patient outcomes globally.”
Zimlichman pointed to Sheba’s work in AI-driven diagnostics, telemedicine, and personalized care models, which have been accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Telehealth was a solution born out of necessity during the pandemic, but we quickly realized its vast potential to revolutionize how care is delivered,” he said, adding that such innovations are not just theoretical but designed to be immediately implementable, with the potential to “reshape healthcare delivery worldwide.”
One example of such advances announced at the summit was the launch of embARC Ventures, a healthtech startup accelerator developed in collaboration with Ilex Medical. EmbARC offers early-stage companies a comprehensive support package, including access to $250,000 in guaranteed funding, mentorship, and clinical trial access through Sheba’s extensive global network.
“Telehealth was a solution born out of necessity during the pandemic, but we quickly realized its vast potential to revolutionize how care is delivered.”
“EmbARC is about empowering the next generation of healthtech startups by removing the barriers to success,” said Avner Halperin, Deputy Director of ARC and CEO of Sheba Impact. “Startups today face significant hurdles – funding, market entry, and clinical validation, to name a few. Through embARC, we’re providing them with not just financial support, but also the mentorship and access they need to scale rapidly.”
Halperin said ARC’s vision for embARC extends beyond Israel, with the goal being “to create a healthtech ecosystem that positions Israel as a global leader in digital health, biotech, and medical devices and offers a gateway to the global market.”
Also announced at the summit was a strategic partnership between Sheba and Paradigm Health Inc., a U.S.-based healthtech company focused on revolutionizing clinical trials using AI. The partnership aims to address inefficiencies in the clinical trial process, including patient recruitment, data management, and cost management, all of which slow the development of life-saving treatments.
“The current model of clinical trials is slow, expensive, and often leaves out diverse patient populations,” said Kent Thoelke, CEO of Paradigm Health. “Our collaboration with Sheba has the potential to completely overhaul how clinical trials are conducted, making them faster, more inclusive, and more effective.”
The partnership will leverage Paradigm’s AI-driven platform to streamline clinical trial operations and enhance patient recruitment, while Sheba’s extensive clinical expertise and network of researchers will help implement these innovations on a global scale.
Thoelke noted that the collaboration also aims to democratize access to clinical trials, ensuring that more patients, especially those with rare diseases, can participate in the testing of new therapies. “Together with Sheba, we can offer patients worldwide access to life-saving trials with fewer hurdles,” he added.
About the Author
Francesca Ming is an EU-based author interested in the intersection of healthcare and technology across Europe. She focuses on exploring how innovation in these sectors can drive change and improve lives.
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