Israel’s Sheba Medical Center has entered into a preliminary agreement with the UAE’s Apex National Investment to co-promote healthcare technologies in the UAE and the Gulf region.
The memorandum of understanding (MoU) is expected to enable collaboration on medical innovation, professional training, Covid-19 treatment and medical tourism, according to Reuters.
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Sheba Medical Center’s Sheba International director Yoel Hareven said that a final agreement between the parties may be signed in the UAE around 21 September.
Hareven was quoted by the news agency as saying: “We’ve embedded existing Israeli telemedicine (remote treatment) technology which allows us to provide medical care to coronavirus patients while minimising risk to the medical teams – this of great interest to the Emirates.”
Sheba and Apex intend to set up an innovation hub in the Gulf and will leverage Sheba’s big data platform.
The deal comes after Israel and the UAE formally agreed last month to normalise their relations. Companies from both countries have started to work on alliances in banking and other fields.
Sheba’s MoU is said to be the first collaboration between an Israeli hospital and an Emirati company following the countries’ formal agreement.
Last month, Apex signed an agreement with Israeli Tera Group to work together on Covid-19 related research and development (R&D), including a testing device.
US-based Mayo Clinic invested $50m last month in a 741-bed hospital project, named Sheikh Shakhbout Medical City, in Abu Dhabi, UAE.
