Spinoff Companies

SeaErra is an innovative startup company developing underwater imaging products and solutions. The company focuses on the enhancement of visibility, contrast and colors in images acquired in scattering media such as water and haze, under both ambient and artificial illumination. The expected product lines include software and hardware solutions which are based on the unique patented technology and know-how in the underwater imaging arena. The technology is applicable in post-processing and real time of photographs and videos acquired by off-the-shelf cameras and can also be incorporated in robots, cameras, smartphones and any other relevant hardware. The products are designed to meet the needs of a wide range of applications allowing enhancement of images acquired with existing cameras (software product) or as a full hardware product mounted on underwater vehicles, divers, fish cages, surveillance systems and more.
Our Mission is to enhance the visibility, contrast and colors in images acquired in scattering media, under both ambient and artificial illumination.

SeaErra has developed a suite of novel computer vision algorithms for underwater scene recovery based on analyzing the physical image formation model and reversing the optical effects of the scattering media. The methods can work in real-time since they have low complexity and minimum calibration. The technology is implemented in 3 configurations: Software, Hardware and OEM integrated into existing hardware and software solutions

Market Potential
Sierra’s technology is valuable for a wide range of market segments including the enterprise market (B2B) and the commercial market (B2C). Specifically, it is targeting underwater operations including underwater cameras market (market estimated at 8.9B dollars in 2025), underwater vehicles (market estimated at 4.3 Billion USD by 2023 ) pool robots and tracking systems applied for aquaculture (market estimated at 42.6 Billion USD by 2023) and defense industries.

Company (facilities and infrastructures; money raised) and Team
The company was established in January 2019 based on innovative solutions developed by Dr. Tali Treibitz, at the Marine Imaging Lab, University of Haifa, Israel. It has received seed money of 500k$ while its main shareholders are Carmel and CA innovations 2 fund.
The company operates from the Marine Imaging Lab at Haifa University where it has all required equipment for developing software and hardware designed for underwater operations. Dr. Tali Treibitz heads all R&D activities. GM and BizDev are carried out by Carmel. In the R&D team there are currently 2 algorithm engineers and a hardware and optics engineer.

Technology Description
SeaErra’s products and solutions are based on patented and proprietary technology in the field of image enhancement and restoration in scattering media. The technology has been proved to substantially improve limited visibility and contrast images (due to water, haze, sand or fog) into usable clear images for human use as well as automatic computer vision for recognition, segmentation and tracking. Methods are based on analyzing the physical image formation model and developing algorithms in order to reverse the optical effects of the scattering media. Methods can work in real-time since they have low complexity and minimum calibration.

Website: https://www.seaerra-vision.com

Dr. Tali Treibitz research website

Seaerra Vision Ltd is in the list of the top 10 computer vision papers in 2020 

המצלמה שתגלה את סודות הים שישנו את חיינו

Researchers: Prof. Fuad Fares; Dr. Lital Sharvit; Prof. Solomon Wasser

Company Background
Striding towards a novel treatment for one of the deadliest cancers.
Based on mushroom-derived compound, inhibiting progression of pancreatic cancer cells.

University of Haifa researchers working to improve survival for patients with pancreatic cancer joined with Carmel, the University’s economic corporation, and established CanCurX to further develop a novel treatment for this deadly disease.
Leading research and development is Prof. Fuad Fares of the Faculty of Natural Sciences. In 2009 he founded biomedical start-up Prolor Biotech, which engineered a platform that prolongs the lifespan and efficacy of therapeutic proteins in treating deficiencies. (Prolor Biotech was acquired by Opko Health in 2013.)
Prof. Fares and Dr. Lital Sharvit have accomplished successful research leading toward the development of a novel treatment for pancreatic cancer. Their discovery is based on properties of a mushroom-derived compound that arrest pancreatic cell growth.

Learn more about the technology and research status

Drug Market Potential
Pancreatic cancer is the 12th most common cancer worldwide. According to the World Pancreatic Cancer Coalition, it is estimated that 418,000 new cases will be diagnosed between 2017 and 2020.
According to a Grand View Research report, the global pancreatic cancer treatment market was valued at $1.7 billion in 2015. The growing geriatric population, along with obesity, alcohol consumption, and smoking as key-suspected factors contributing to the occurrence of pancreatic cancer, are expected to drive market growth up to $4.2 billion in 2025. 
Since the disease is commonly diagnosed at an advanced stage, current forms of treatment do not succeed in extending median survival duration beyond 6-12 months after diagnosis.

IP Status
Patents registered for the mushroom strain, the extract prepared from it and the treatment process.

Innovation Investment & Partnership Opportunities
Heading the CanCurX research team is Prof. Fuad Fares, founder and Chief Scientific Officer of Prolor Biotech. Prolor Biotech was acquired by Opko Health in 2013 for $480M.
CanCurX Ltd. received seed investment from the Carmel Innovations Fund, supporting the company’s research and development, and steering it towards its present accomplishments.
Carmel Ltd. is now seeking potential partners and/or investors to drive strong company growth and drug market disruption.

Related pages
Cancer Program: Drug Development for One of the Deadliest of Cancers
Lital Sharvit, Dr.- researcher page
Fuad Fares, Prof.- researcher page

Defeating Dementia
Researcher : Prof. Edi Barkai

Pioneering drug treatment to inhibit the onset of dementia.
Based on research unravelling the scientific foundations of learning and memory in the brain.

Company Background
Research at the University of Haifa shedding light on a neurobiological trigger for dementia that is proving to be a druggable target led to establishment of MemoBoost Ltd. in 20xx . The company was founded by Carmel - the University of Haifa’s economic corporation in collaboration with the head of research, Prof. Edi Barkai. The team is working closely with R&D Integrative Solutions, bringing extensive experience in drug discovery and development management to the table.

Learn more about the technology and research status

Drug Market Potential
According to the World Health Organization, some 47 million people worldwide suffer from dementia. The number is projected to reach up to 75 million in 2030.Persistence Market Research has reported that the global treatment for syndromes of dementia and movement disorders market was valued at USD 12,859.8 million in 2014 and is expected to reach an estimated value of USD 21,154.8 million in 2020 (at a CAGR of 8.6% from 2014 to 2020).
The report notes that most of the drugs fail in Phase III due to lack of sufficient knowledge about the mechanisms of the brain and the unknown causes of the disease.
MemoBoost - Breaking new ground in preventative treatment for dementia.

IP Status: Patent pending

Innovation Investment & Partnership Opportunities
Since the mGluR family is highly validated as a pharmaceutical target, we believe a preclinical collaboration with or licensing to a pharmaceutical or biotech company is attainable.
MemoBoost Ltd. received seed investment from the Carmel Innovations Fund, supporting the company’s research and development and steering it towards its present accomplishments.
Carmel Ltd. is now seeking potential partners and/or investors to drive strong company growth and drug market disruption.

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Photo credit: Tomer Appelbaum

Novel Horizons in Cancer Treatment and Prevention

Identifying novel substances and mechanisms to develop cancer-fighting pharmaceutical drugs.

Research with the Cancer-Resistant Subterranean Blind Mole-Rat (Spalax)

Main Researchers: Prof. Aaron Avivi (standing) with Dr. Imad Shams and Prof. Irena Marinov

Company Background
SpalRx Ltd. is advancing novel research to develop cancer-fighting drugs to be indicated for various types of human cancer.
The company was founded in 2016 by Carmel - the University of Haifa’s economic corporation, and is based on the groundbreaking discoveries of near-absolute cancer resistance in an animal model – the Subterranean Blind Mole-Rat (Spalax). 
The company’s research is led by Prof. Aaron Avivi, Dr. Irena Manov and Dr. Imad Shams from the Institute of Evolution at the University of Haifa. The team is currently engaged in identifying and then isolating the secreted substance or substances enabling Spalax to fight off human cancer. Once achieved, the team will be dedicated to identifying cancer-resistant mechanisms to be applied in the development of new drugs to treat and prevent cancer.
Learn more about the technology and research status[CTO link: hyperlink to technology page]

Drug Market Potential
According to the World Health Organization, cancer is the second leading cause of death worldwide. Nearly 1 in 6 deaths is dues to cancer, accounting for 8.8 million deaths in 2015. The number of new cases is expected to rise by about 70% over the next 2 decades.

Allied Market Research reports that the global cancer drugs market was valued at $78,238.9 million in 2015. It is expected to reach $111.9 billion by 2020, at a CAGR of 7.1%.
In spite of decades of cancer studies humans continue to suffer and the numbers only keep rising. The high cancer resistance in the Spalax and its proven ability to kill human cancer cells present a unique opportunity to search for novel, nature-based, solutions to fight the disease.

IP Status
The first patent is granted in US. the second Patent pending (national phase)

Innovation Investment & Partnership Opportunities
SpalRx Ltd. received seed investment from privet investor supporting the company’s research and development and steering it towards its present accomplishments.
Carmel Ltd. is now seeking potential partners and/or investors to drive company development and cancer drug market disruption.

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Related pages
Novel Horizons in Cancer Treatment and Prevention - technology page
Prof. Aaron Avivi researcher page
Prof. Irena Manov researcher page
Dr. Imad Shams - researcher page

The power of big data opening doors to discovery

Pine Biotech, working with the University of Haifa’s Tauber Bioinformatics Research Center (TBRC) and led by Dr. Leonid Brodsky, has developed informative and interactive visualizations for bioinformatics and genomic big data. Its T-BioInfo platform combines analysis of heterogeneous data types and machine learning approaches, as well as integration and modeling. Users work with a simple interface that hides complicated mathematical algorithms and are offered intuitive options for creating complex algorithmic pipelines.
The user-friendly visualization of complex data sets allows for insights that researchers may not have even been looking for, opening doors to discovery.

T-BioInfo Applications
Personalized medicine. Empowering research, classification and characterization of diseases such as cancer and genetic diseases.
Virology. Enabling a better understanding of viral genomics and virus-host interactions can lead to a better understanding of viral diseases.
Agriculture. Integrating big data with agritech to help address major global issues such as climate change and food security.
Education. Simplifying the computational approach to allow scientists of all backgrounds to move forward in the big data world.

Pine Biotech’s vision is to enable scientists, practical medical workers, non-bioinformatician biologists and bioinformatics students to take full advantage of the power and promise of big data.

• Awarded first place at the Pistoia Alliance President’s Startup Challenge in Boston, MA (October 2016).
• Included in Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency grant (DARPA Intercept) in collaboration with the University of California San Francisco and Boston University.

Website: https://pine-biotech.com

Dr. Leonid Brodsky Researcher page

(Formally known as "שכונתית")

Social network for neighbors, developed by Shai Epstein, A graduate of the Information System department, Faculty of Social Science at the University of Haifa. 

Hoodini provide 3 platforms:

• a social network – for the citizen,
• smart dashboard with analysis – for the municipality,
• IoT\proximity solution for local businesses

The application aims to connect neighbors and motivate them to get to know each other better. 

Hoodini provides municipality decision makers a glimpse on their citizens needs and neighborhood atmosphere.

Website: https://www.hoodini.in

MultiQTL Ltd. is a bioinformatics company based in Haifa, Israel, oriented on developing a spectrum of software tools for genomics and biotechnology. These include software for building multilocus genetic maps, genetic mapping of quantitative traits, large scale physical mapping (e.g., contig assembling based on restriction fingerprinting of BAC libraries), evaluation of multilocus relatedness for various forensic applications, etc.
The company’s multifunctional software for genome mapping is oriented to genetic and breeding companies, universities, research institutes, and medical organizations. their customers are distributed worldwide.

products: 

• MultiPoint, for multilocus map construction
• MultiQTL, for QTL analysis in controlled crosses
  The software integrates a broad spectrum of data mining, statistical analysis, interactive visualization and modeling tools that allow QTL analysis based on advanced and sophisticated methods for maximum extraction of the mapping information from data
• LTC, for physical mapping
  Linear Topology Contig (LTC) software enables the construction of reliable and longer contigs, detection of “weak” connections in contigs and their “repairing”, and elongation of contigs obtained by other methods.
  LTC can be used as an alternative or complementary to the known FPC software

The team is being led by Prof. Avraham. Korol, CEO - Professor of Genetics at the University of Haifa and head of the mathematical and population genetics lab at the Institute of Evolution.

Mir2Me is a breakthrough diagnostic method for Type-2 Diabetes, based on unique Mir-XYZ (GF) the research team had found.

The team reveals a single gene, Mir-XYZ (GF) that is responsible for The transition between healthy to Diabetes condition. This "one gene one disease" dogma is groundbreaking in diabetes research, as it was never tested before.

Mir2Me offers a tool for diagnosis of individuals carrying genetic diabetes associated variant in Mir-XYZ (GF) for manifest its expression presymptomatically

even at newborn (40–50 years before onset)

Current status-

• 13 years of research with animals
• P patent was filled
• Undergo clinical trial of 1,000 subjects in Israeli hospital
• Seed financing

Prof. Gil Atzmon is a member of the research team and Co-founder. He is the head of the Laboratory of Genetics and Epigenetics of Aging and Longevity at the Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Haifa.