About Us
Founded in 1944, the American Committee for the Weizmann Institute of Science develops philanthropic support for the Weizmann Institute in Israel, and advances its mission of science for the future of humanity.
Oct 10, 2007... REHOVOT, ISRAEL—October 10, 2007—A group of Israeli scientists from the Technion — Israel Institute of Technology, the Weizmann Institute of Science, and Teva Pharmaceutical Industries have recently identified genes responsible for the positive response of many multiple sclerosis (MS) patients to the drug Copaxone®. These findings may contribute to the development of personalized medicine for MS sufferers.
https://www.weizmann-usa.org/news-media/in-the-news/my-intuition-says-teva-will-get-out-of-this/
Oct 09, 2017...
Prof. Michael Sela Photo: Eyal Izhar
“My intuition tells me that Teva will extricate itself,” Professor Michael Sela, who, together with Ruth Arnon and Deborah Teitelbaum, developed Teva’s blockbuster multiple sclerosis treatment Copaxone at the Weizmann Institute, told “Globes” yesterday.
It was Sela’s close friendship with the late Eli Hurvitz, Teva’s legendary CEO, that brought Copaxone to Teva and made the company what it is today. Former Teva CFO, and currently a director of the company, Dan Suesskind has related in the past how Sela spoke to Hurvitz about a potential drug, COP-1, which eventually became Copaxone. “Fortunately, Teva was allowed to look at the drug file for just $50,000. Who knows, maybe if thrifty Eli had been offered the file for $500,000, Copaxone would never have seen the light of day,” Suesskind said.
Mar 06, 2001... Rehovot, Israel—March 6, 2001—Weizmann Institute scientists have succeeded in stopping the progressive loss of eyesight in animals with a glaucoma-like disease. Their innovative study, reported in the March 6, 2001 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, suggests that Copaxone®, a drug developed at the Weizmann Institute of Science to treat multiple sclerosis, may also stop, or at least slow down, the loss of eyesight in people with chronic glaucoma.
https://www.weizmann-usa.org/news-media/feature-stories/battling-glaucoma/
Sep 02, 2003...
One in every hundred adults in the Western world suffers from chronic glaucoma, a disease that causes blindness. In most cases the disease results from increased pressure inside the eye, caused by defective drainage of the transparent liquid that bathes the eye. Yet reducing the pressure does not always solve the problem.
Prof. Michal Schwartz, working in the Weizmann Institute's Neurobiology Department, came up with a novel idea. She suggested that toxic substances triggered by the initial damage are responsible for the ongoing nerve degeneration. These substances spill out of the damaged nerve cells and adversely affect healthy neighboring cells. Schwartz suggested activating the immune system—known to defend the body against external invaders such as bacteria—to combat the body's own toxic substances. She showed that in complete contrast to the generally accepted concept of autoimmunity (i.e., activity against the self) as inherently harmful, it can serve as a defense mechanism against damaging self-compounds. Autoimmune disease results when control of this mechanism breaks down.
Nov 01, 2016... Understanding Immunotherapy: History and Lifesaving Breakthroughs
Dec 19, 2018...
Image via Shutterstock.com
Worldwide, about 3 million people are afflicted by multiple sclerosis (MS), an incurable autoimmune disease in which the immune system attacks the fatty membrane (myelin sheath) that insulates the long extensions of nerve cells.
Damaged myelin prevents nerves from communicating with the brain properly, causing symptoms such as blurred vision, difficulty in walking, dizziness and muscular weakness.
Feb 24, 2020...
For 86-year-old Prof. Ruth Arnon, nothing compares to waking up in the morning and going to work in the laboratory.
When it comes to being excited by experiments, age is simply not a factor for the world-renowned Weizmann Institute of Science biochemist and co-creator of multiple sclerosis drug Copaxone.
Born in Tel Aviv in 1933, Arnon’s academic background was in biochemistry, but she worked her entire career to advance a chemical approach to immunology.
Jun 22, 2010...
World-renowned immunologist Prof. Ruth Arnon of the Weizmann Institute has been named the new – and first woman – president of the Israel Academy of Sciences and the Humanities, since 1961 the government's official adviser on science and planning of civilian research.
She replaces Prof. Menahem Ya'ari, who held the position for two three-year terms.
The academy also announced on Monday that Arnon's vice president will be Prof. Binyamin Ze'ev Kedar. Both were elected at a general assembly of 100 academy members, and they will take office around Rosh Hashana. The social sciences and humanities are represented in the academy along with the exact sciences.
Jan 02, 2006... In 2002 a clinical trial of an experimental Alzheimer's vaccine was halted when a few patients began experiencing brain inflammation, a result of the immune system mounting an attack against the body. Now some researchers claim that inducing a mild autoimmune reaction could actually protect the central nervous system from a spectrum of neurodegenerative conditions, from glaucoma and spinal cord injury to Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease. "This is a hot-button issue right now," says Howard Gendelman of the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha.
May 28, 2022...
Michael Sela, a world-renowned Israeli immunology expert who also served as president of the Weizmann Institute of Science, died on Friday at the age of 98.
An Israel Prize laureate at the age of 35 for his life science research who also earned many other awards during his career, Sela was involved in the development of the drug Copaxone for the treatment of multiple sclerosis as well as three cancer treatment drugs. His research shed light on the genetic aspects of the functioning of the immune system and led to new fields of immunology.
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