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Introduction

The Hebrew University in Jerusalem is well known for path breaking discoveries and inventions in diverse fields. Medical Inventions have always been the forte of Jerusalem University. The University has a Technology Transfer Office called Yissum, which is the public face of the Hebrew University.

Yissum has been functioning since as early as 1964. It handles various issues involving the inventions, intellectual property and Technology Transfer Opportunities for the Hebrew University It is the center for all Technology Transfer. Two amazing inventions by the Hebrew University are discussed here.

The diagnostic value of saliva

This amazing diagnostic tool was presented at the ILSI BioMed Israel held in 2008. Many standard diagnostic tests presently require the patients to use urine or blood samples. For many patients, especially women, handing over a urine sample to the Lab is quite an embarrassing ritual. It unconsciously invades the privacy of a patient. Blood samples too cause phobia to many patients. Taking a blood sample is invasive in nature. Many patients are also suspicious about the quality of syringes used for taking blood samples. Medical Science has been working hard to find a practical and viable alternative.

Millions of dollars have been spent in using saliva as a replacement. Saliva is a part of the digestive system of the body. It does carry similar molecules as blood and urine. Modern science has always been looking forward to replacing blood and urine tests by using saliva samples. One major issue which has been preventing this is the presence of a large amount of protein in saliva. The proteins present in saliva are detrimental for conduct of diagnostic tests. Scientists have been looking for a method to separate the protein from saliva.

A team of Hebrew University- Hadassah School of Dental Medicine comprising of Professor Aaron Palmon and Omer Deutsch (research student) from the Institute of Dental Sciences, and Doctor Doran Afraiman, head of the Salivary Gland Clinic, Department of Oral Medicine have invented a disposable device which segregates proteins from saliva. It consists of use of a modified potato starch. The starch absorbs large quantities of amylase ( proteins) from the saliva and makes it fit for usage in diagnostic tests. The diagnostic value of saliva is immensely increased by using this device.

This device has immense commercial potential. The global market for biomarkers was $5.6 billion in 2007. It is expected to increase to $12.8 billion by 2012. This discovery when turned into a commercial product will have immense value and will save the patients the rigors of giving urine and blood samples.

Oral Drug for Cancer

Cancer is dreaded not only as a disease but also for the drastic side effects involved in treating cancer. Professors Eli Breuer, Reuven Reich and Amnon Hoffman, all belonging to Hebrew Univeristy’s School of Pharmacy have developed an oral drug which prevents the spread of various types of cancer. Their project has been published in the Journal of Medicinal Chemistry.

Cancer spreads by a process a called metastasis. Human cells contain matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) which are extracellular enzymes. These MMPs play a vital role in spreading diseases like cancer, arthritis, multiple sclerosis, arteriosclerosis, congestive heart failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, liver cirrhosis etc. The over expression of MMPs causes metastasis. The new drug, called cis-ACCP inhibits the MMPs thus keeping spread of diseases under check.

The cis-ACCP is the first clinically useful inhibitor of its kind and is non toxic. It has no side effects. It is water-soluble and highly bioavailable. Preclinical experiments have shown the drug prevents cancer cells from invading adjacent tissue. It is effective in the treatment of melanoma and prostate cancer. Results have indicated significant reductions in both tumor growth and mesatasis formation through the use of cis-ACCP.

This drug represents a new way for treating cancer. It also represents another potentially huge commercial success for Yissum and the Hebrew University.

Yissum is one of the top technological transfer companies of the world and has over 5500 patents, 1600 inventions, 480 technologies and 65 companies. It has business partnerships with various companies across the globe, including Microsoft, Johnson & Johnson, Merch, Intel, Teva and many more. For more information, visit, www.yissum.co.il.