USA - Johnson & Johnson Buys Israeli Company
Healthcare giant Johnson & Johnson announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Israeli company V-Wave, which has developed an innovative treatment for patients with heart failure. V-Wave will join Johnson & Johnson as part of Johnson & Johnson MedTech. The deal is due to be closed by the end of 2024.
V-Wave’s Ventura Interatrial Shunt is a novel implantable device designed to decrease elevated left atrial pressure seen in congestive heart failure by creating a shunt between the left and right atrium, thereby reducing cardiovascular events and heart failure hospitalizations.
V-Wave was founded in 2010 by Yaacov Nitzan, Dr. Ascher Shmulewitz and Dr. Gad Keren. In 2013 the company completed animal trials of its shunt and in 2014 the first human implants were undertaken. In 2016 the company raised $70 million in a financing round led by Johnson & Johnson and Edwards. The company is led by CEO Dr. Neal Eigler, president and head of European operations Erez Rozenfeld and chairman Dr. Frank Litvack.
V-Wave has already received marketing approval in Europe and is in advanced stages of applying for FDA marketing approval in the US. Johnson & Johnson said in its acquisition announcement that V-Wave’s product will be the first of its kind in the world.
-en.globes.co.il, 20 August 2024
Arno's Commentary
Israel’s talent in the high-tech medical field is no secret. US News lists countries with the most technological expertise: Japan, South Korea, and China are the top three, but quite remarkably, Israel—this small country on the Mediterranean with a population of just under 10 million—is in 13th place. One must also take into consideration that, while Israel has signed an understanding of peace with Egypt and Jordan, the rest of its neighbors are vehemently opposed to the Jewish State, with the declared intention to destroy it.
Apparently, the great threat of neighboring countries works in the opposite direction for Israel: not destruction but more inventions, particularly in high-tech industries.
Biblically speaking, Israel’s future is secure: “And in that day will I make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field and with the fowls of heaven, and with the creeping things of the ground: and I will break the bow and the sword and the battle out of the earth, and will make them to lie down safely” (Hosea 2:18).
Arno Froese is the executive director of Midnight Call Ministries and editor-in-chief of the acclaimed prophetic magazines Midnight Call and News From Israel. He has authored a number of well-received books, and has sponsored many prophecy conferences in the U.S., Canada, and Israel. His extensive travels have contributed to his keen insight into Bible prophecy, as he sees it from an international perspective.
