New $120 million Israeli biotech institute launched near Tel Aviv

Bar-Ilan University and the Sheba Medical Center revealed last week that they are jointly launching a biotech innovation institute, which has already secured investments amounting to $120 million. The new center will be located in Sheba Medical Center’s Health Tech Valley in Ramat Gan, outside Tel Aviv. 

The biotech center, which is the first-of-its-kind in Israel, will focus on advancing medical breakthroughs in fields such as cancer, organ printing, AI-driven diagnostics and genetic engineering. The vision is that the center will become a leading bridge between medicine, science and industry. 

Prof. Arie Zaban, president of Bar-Ilan University, welcomed the establishment of the new innovation center. He signed the bilateral agreement with Prof. Yitshak Kreiss, director general of Sheba Medical Center.

“The establishment of this institute fits into the broader picture of Israel’s biotechnology boom,” Zaban stated. “Our collaboration with Sheba will significantly accelerate the transition from laboratory discovery to clinical application."

“Sheba’s Health Tech Valley, in collaboration with partners like Bar-Ilan University, is turning healthcare into a growth engine for Israel’s economy and industry,” Kreis said.

The two institutes will jointly run the innovation center according to the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) model, which focuses on cutting the time to transform research into applicable treatment. 

Prof. Dror Harats, chairman of the research authority at Sheba, assessed that the new innovation center would strengthen Israel’s position on the global map of cutting-edge biomedical research. 

“This is a major step in making Israel a world leader in biomedical research,” Harats explained. 

There is a long-term vision to transform the Health Tech Valley into the Jewish state’s main medical innovation ecosystem. The vision is strengthened by the close proximity to the university’s campus. 

“This unique project has the potential to be a national growth engine,” assessed Tal Hauptman, real estate manager at Migdal Insurance.

Bar-Ilan University ranks among Israel’s leading academic institutions, and in March, Newsweek ranked the Sheba Medical Center outside Tel Aviv as the 8th best hospital in the world. The Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, ranked first, followed by Cleveland Clinic, located in Cleveland, Ohio. 

The Sheba Medical center had advanced in the ranking from the 9th to the 8th place. 

“This year’s rise reflects our central role in treating the majority of war casualties and providing long-term care for hostages returning from Hamas captivity. The hospital has also become a key player in Israel’s economic growth, with Sheba-developed technologies sold to global pharmaceutical and medical device giants for approximately $US1 billion," the hospital said in an official statement. 

The Sheba Medical Center has in recent years invested heavily in becoming a tech-savvy hospital. In 2023, Newsweek ranked the Sheba Medical Center among the world’s 20 leading “smart hospitals.” 

“We are committed to continuing to lead in the development and implementation of medical innovation, in clinical research and in treatment to meet the medical challenges of the coming decade,” Sheba’s Director-General Kreiss stated at the time. 

“This is how we can provide each and every patient with the most advanced, personal and best treatment,” he added.