Second South Carolina Mission to Israel Produces Deal and Leads

December 18, 2012

COLUMBIA, SC – December 18, 2012 – Under the auspices of the SouthCarolina-Israel Collaboration, a delegation of the state’s business,university, and economic development leaders travelled throughoutIsrael, December 1-6, for a weeklong mission to pursue economic, trade,and research opportunities with counterparts in that country.  Theiritinerary included visits to Israel’s major research universities,meetings with key government officials, briefings, presentations on “WhySouth Carolina”, and the prospect of pursuing opportunities withspecific Israeli companies. 

In all, the delegation conducted more than 100 meetings in the country.  Many companies were interested in learning about the potential of SouthCarolina as a base for penetrating the US market, and members of thedelegation reported that they are following up on excellent leads fortheir own businesses and the state.

One Israeli company, NeuroQuest (www.neuroquest.com),announced financing totaling $500,000 by Charleston-based The IntertechGroup and the Maryland/Israel Trendlines Fund.  The company is alsoengaged in discussions with the South Carolina Research Authority (SCRA)about a grant to support the opening of a US development center inCharleston as the base of its clinical and regulatory work. 

A portfolio company of the Trendlines Group’s Misgav VentureAccelerator, NeuroQuest is moving quickly towards an importantvalidation trial of novel blood-based immune biomarkers for thediagnosis of Alzheimer’s Disease.  Their platform for neurodegenerativediseases is based on the research of Prof. Michal Schwartz, Chair ofNeuroimmunology at the Weizmann Institute of Science, who pioneered theconcept of Protective AutoImmunity.  The success of the validation trialwould present a new approach for a simple, inexpensive, and earlydiagnosis of Alzheimer’s Disease.

Dr. Jacobo Mintzer, Co-Director of Alzheimer’s Research & ClinicalPrograms of the Medical University of South Carolina, has joinedNeuroQuest as its new VP of Clinical affairs to leverage his experiencein over 200 Alzheimer’s related clinical trials.  Mintzer participatedin the original South Carolina delegation last year which met NeuroQuestin November 2011.  NeuroQuest’s CEO, Ilya Budik, credited theAmerican-Israel Chamber of Commerce, Southeast Region for forging theseimportant connections for his company.

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Leadingthe 2012 delegation was Jonathan Zucker, President of Charleston-basedThe InterTech Group and chair of the Collaboration’s steering committee,whose company has provided the American-Israel Chamber of Commerce, SERegion (www.aiccse.org)  with annual grants to organize the Collaboration.  “This trip was ouropportunity to build on the success of our first mission and to landsome significant companies and partnerships that will benefit our stateand create jobs here,” said Zucker.  

In addition to Zucker, the South Carolina delegation included:

  • Pennie Bingham, Sr. VP Business Development, Charleston Metro Chamber of Commerce
  • James Bourey, Director of Corporate Development, Elliott Davis, LLC
  • Robert Donato, Interim, Executive Director, MUSC Foundation for Research Development
  • Morris Ellison, Attorney, Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice
  • Coty Fishburne, Member, MUSC Board of Trustees
  • Tom Glaser, President, American-Israel Chamber of Commerce, SE Region
  • Joseph Helpern, Director, Center of Biomedical Imaging, MUSC
  • Don Herriott, Director of Innovista, University of South Carolina
  • Robert Johnston, Executive Vice President, The InterTech Group
  • Ram Kalus, Founder and President, Plastic Surgery of the Carolinas
  • Bill Mahoney, President, SCRA
  • Sunil Patel, Professor & Co-Chairman, Dept. of Neurosciences, MUSC
  • Bobby Pearce, Co-Partner in Charge of Charleston Office, Smith Moore Leatherwood LLP
  • Keith Shah, Asst. VP of Corporate Planning & Strategic Services, Blue Cross Blue Shield of South Carolina
  • Karan Soresen, President, Sorensen Strategies, LLC
  • Raymond Turner, Asst. Professor, Dept. of Neurosciences, MUSC
  • Marlene Wilson, Interim Associate Dean, Basic Sciences & Graduate Studies, University of South Carolina School of Medicine
  • Thomas Vogt, Associate VP for Research, Director of USC NanoCenter, University of South Carolina.

Organized by the American-Israel Chamber of Commerce, SE Region(AICC), the mission is one of the key elements of the program of workfor the South Carolina-Israel Collaboration that was launched throughoutthe state last year. 

The Collaboration’s mission is “to stimulate business and researchpartnerships between companies and universities in South Carolina andIsrael as a way to generate economic development, jobs, and investmentsto the benefit of all.”   It is built around six identified clusters ofstrength in South Carolina and Israel where there exists a strongpotential of synergy and relevance:  Biomedical, Advanced Materials,Sustainable Systems, Transportation, Defense / Security, and Insurance /Health IT. 
                                                           
Known as the “Start Up Nation”, Israel has one of the most dynamicentrepreneurial innovation economies in the world.  The country investsmore per capita on R&D, has more companies traded on NASDAQ otherthan the US, and has the highest per capita percentage of scientists andengineers.  Having free trade with the United States since 1985, thecountry is also an important market for US companies and vice versa.  Many of the leading multinational corporations, including Microsoft,Intel, Cisco, IBM, Proctor & Gamble, and The Coca-Cola Company haveresearch & development operations in Israel.  South Carolina iscurrently home to 7 Israeli companies for their US or regionaloperations, and there are already research collaborations betweenIsraeli universities and South Carolina’s three major universities.


For further information, please visit the South Carolina-Israel Collaboration’s website
(www.sc-israel.org).  For questions, contact Tom Glaser, [email protected] or
404-843-9426.