In a bid to increase Israel’s life science industry, the government has announced incentives for global corporations to invest in the country. The Office of the Chief Scientist (OCS) raised the share of its budget for life sciences to almost 30%, including formation of the $220 million OrbiMed venture fund. Merck, the first multinational firm to establish an R&D facility in Israel, has announced an incubator to support half a dozen firms. About 29% of Israel’s almost one thousand life science companies are biopharmaceutical firms. Last year, 61% of the $503 million invested in Israel’s life science sector supported the country’s 500 medical device firms, which accounted for exports of over $1.6 billion in 2011. The country holds the world’s highest number of medical device patents and second-highest number of biopharmaceutical patents per capita. As for pharmaceutical firms’ presence in the country, Teva is headquartered in Israel, and Roche, Pfizer, Sanofi and Abbott have invested in start-ups in the country, which is already home to relatively new life science companies like Protalix, Kamada and Gamida Cell. However, support for R&D and advanced clinical trials in Israel is inadequate.

Source: Reuters