General Electric Company (NYSE: GE) has invested in two Israeli start ups: Biocep Ltd. and HeadSense Medical Ltd. Sources inform ''Globes'' that GE Healthcare has invested $1.5 million in Biocep, at a company value of $3.5 million, before money. The investment is subject to milestones, which were not disclosed. GE may invest additional sums later.
Biocep is a graduate of Meytag Technology Incubator at Katzrin. The company has developed a cell separation platform, Cell Enrichment Process (CEP), which yields larger, purer and less damaged cell populations compared with existing technologies. The company is developing applications for non-invasive prenatal testing and stem cell separation.
GE unit GE Ventures invested in HeadSense as part of a financing round led by Pontifax. Everett Partners and German investment group JuMaJo also participated in the round. The size of the investment was not disclosed, but sources estimate it at several million dollars.
HeadSense developed a non-invasive intracranial pressure monitor, which earbuds-like disposable unit that is placed in the patient's ears. The device generates an acoustic signal that is circulated through the head and then is picked up in the other ear using an acoustic sensor. The data generated from the signal is analyzed in real-time from a tablet or smartphone.
HeadSense CEO Guy Weinberg said, "Intracranial pressure is an important parameter for the diagnosis and monitoring of patients suffering from head trauma, strokes and other conditions. The current gold-standard is expensive, invasive and requires a skilled neurosurgeon. With this new distributive technology we are offering a non-invasive, accurate, continuous and cost-effective alternative that will improve patient care by allowing more patients to be monitored with reduced costs."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on July 9, 2013
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