Israeli start-up Immunai is working on developing the new generation of medicine using a combination of artificial intelligence and big data, with the goal of mapping the entire human immune system, its founder and CEO, Noam Solomon, said Wednesday at the Global Investment Forum, a conference sponsored by The Jerusalem Post in collaboration with the Khaleej Times, the leading media group in the UAE.
“Fully mapping the human genome was one of the biggest achievements that humanity fulfilled, especially in the field of biology,” he said. “This monumental turning point at the turn of the millennia generated hope that it might lead to the end of diseases. While this has not been the case, we have kept making progress.
“At Immunai we have generated tens of millions of immune cells from thousands and thousands of patients in different states of diseases and health, and, like in Google Maps, we’ve put them all in one map.”
According to Solomon, a mathematician by training, while many experts believe medicine is not an exact science, “this is an era of precision medicine, and Immunai, together with other companies, is helping shape the next generation of medicine, relying on big data and biology.”
While the past year has been difficult for many companies, during the pandemic Immunai has tripled in size.
“They say, ‘never let a crisis go to waste.’ I believe the whole world has now understood that the immune system is critically important to fight diseases,” Solomon said in conversation with the Post’s head of strategy, Maayan Hoffman.
Immunai has received funding from Emirati investors, the CEO revealed.
“As an Israeli, it’s a great time to live,” he said. “I grew up in Tel Aviv and I saw the peace agreement with Jordan. For more than 20 years we had been waiting for the next peace agreement to happen, and the Abraham peace accords have brought exciting times.
“We are hoping that the Arab world and Israel are going to walk united, and I think that if we look at the partnerships between hospitals in the UAE and in Israel, things are beginning to move in the right direction,” he concluded. “It is very exciting.”