The impact of bio-convergence in healthcare

Ross Law

Wed, May 14, 2025, 7:18 AM 6 min read

In 2024, the Israel Innovation Authority (IIA) unveiled plans to invest $35m into its first laboratory focused on advancing the field of bio-convergence.

The initiative underscores the country's intent to become a global leader in this field. Bio-chips and bio-devices are advancing personalised medicine, home diagnostics, and real-time disease detection in healthcare.

By cutting out centralised labs, the technology holds the promise of expediting testing and diagnosis in areas such as infectious diseases and cancer, and in determining how an individual is liable to respond to a given therapeutic or antibiotic-related treatment approach.

At Biomed Israel 2025: the 23rd National Life Science & Technology Week, taking place in Tel Aviv between 20 and 22 May, Dr Shai Melcer, head of the national bio-convergence programme at the IIA, will moderate a panel session titled ‘Frontiers in Bio-Chip and Bio-Devices: Advancing Technological Systems with Cutting-Edge Biology’.

The session will feature keynote addresses from academics, including Hebrew University of Jerusalem professor Yaakov (Kobi) Nahmias, and presentations from Israeli companies involved in the bio-chip and device space such as Teracyte, Pre-Cure, and Nanosynex.

Medical Device Network sat down with Dr Melcer to learn more about the evolving role of bio-chips and devices in healthcare and the role that the IIA is playing in nurturing the advancement of Israeli companies active in the field.

Shai Melcer (SM): The IIA looks at different aspects of development, with several divisions dealing with the lifespan of a startup, the knowledge transfer and commercialisation from academia and other sources through the use of R&D infrastructure, the building of proper teams, launching startups, and funding those startups from pre-seed funding through to Series A.

In essence, the IIA ensures that these companies have the right conditions needed for their growth.

SM: The National Bio-Convergence Programme was authorised several years ago. While it is led by the IIA, it is actually fostered by several government partners, including the Ministry for Science & Technology and the Ministry of Finance.

The programme looks at different aspects of the bio-convergence ecosystem, specifically multi-disciplinary R&D, academic research excellence, and facilitates matters such as the streamlining of regulatory pathways and the building out of human capital required for this industry.