HAIFA, Israel, December 3, 2007 – InSightec Ltd. today announced that the World Economic Forum has selected the company as one of its Technology Pioneers for 2008. Technology Pioneers are companies developing and applying technologies deemed highly transformational and innovative in the areas of energy, biotechnology and health and information technology.
The World Economic Forum appointed a panel of leading technology experts to select the finalists from a pool of 273 nominees.
InSightec’s vision is to develop the next-generation, non-invasive, outpatient operating room that minimizes trauma, morbidity and recovery time. The company’s ExAblate® 2000 is the world’s first and only non-invasive surgery system to combine focused ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging.
“We believe this non-invasive technology has the potential to become one of the major forms of surgery within the next 20 years, helping improve millions of lives without the long hospitalizations, extended recovery times, side effects, complication risks and extensive costs associated with invasive surgery,” said Dr. Kobi Vortman, InSightec’s President and CEO. “We’re pleased that the World Economic Forum has recognized ExAblate’s potential with this prestigious designation.”
ExAblate received its European CE Marking in 2002 and U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval in 2004 for treating uterine fibroids, a pervasive condition that impacts up to 70% of women of childbearing age and leads to serious symptoms.
The ExAblate procedure takes about three to four hours and allows the patient to go home the same day and return to normal activities within a day or two. Hysterectomy, the most common treatment for this condition, is a major surgery, requiring two to five days of hospitalization, six to eight weeks of recovery and generates significant complications. Many women have chosen to suffer from the severe symptoms that fibroids cause rather than undergo hysterectomies or other invasive procedures.
Uterine fibroids carry a significant economic burden in terms of the cost of treatment, hospitalization and work absenteeism. Since the ExAblate procedure is performed on an outpatient basis without any hospitalization and allows the patient to return to normal activity with in one to two days, it offers cost and comfort advantages to patients, healthcare providers and employers as compared with other treatment modalities.
InSightec has launched an extensive research program to conduct clinical trials using this technology in various cancerous applications including breast, bone metastases, liver, brain and prostate, while continuing clinical trials in uterine fibroids.
To be selected as a Technology Pioneer, a company must be involved in the development of life-changing technology innovation and have the potential for long-term impact on business and society. In addition, it must demonstrate visionary leadership, show all the signs of being a long-standing market leader – and its technology must be proven.
“This year the World Economic Forum received a record number of applications from companies around the world to become a Technology Pioneer. We are extremely pleased to have a community that is using innovation and technology to dramatically affect the way society and business operate and doing so in a markedly collaborative manner. We are excited to welcome the Technology Pioneers class of 2008 to the larger community of the World Economic Forum and we are looking forward to the fruits that their collaboration will bring,” said Peter Torreele, Managing Director of the World Economic Forum.
Twenty-three of the Technology Pioneers 2008 are US-based companies. Israel and the United Kingdom each boast three; Sweden and Switzerland two each; Canada, France, Germany, India, the Netherlands and Russia, one each. Technology Pioneers are nominated in three main categories: Energy/Environment, Biotechnology/Health and Information Technology.
The entire list of Technology Pioneers and interviews with the CEOs of the selected companies can be found here: http://www.weforum.org/techpioneers/2008.
About the World Economic Forum
The World Economic Forum is an independent international organization committed to improving the state of the world by engaging leaders in partnerships to shape global, regional and industry agendas.
Incorporated as a foundation in 1971, and based in Geneva, Switzerland, the World Economic Forum is impartial and not-for-profit; it is tied to no political, partisan or national interests. (http://www.weforum.org/