Israel has 88 companies registered on NASDAQ, one of the highest ratings for an overseas country. Since the beginning of 2014, 20 companies were added to the list, raising a combined total of 626 million dollars. And 12 of these are associated with the worlds of bio and pharma.

Interesting, but the trend is destined to continue. Sol-Gel is looking to raise around US$50 million. Chiasma is seeking  an US$80 million floatation. In fact, earlier this year, Globes newspaper published an article, where it confirmed how Israeli bio firms were shunning Tel Aviv for the money markets of America.

From my own experience, I can state that this is no temporary trend. My work as a business coach means that I am associated with three bio start ups in the Jerusalem area. Additionally, the Jerusalem Business Networking Forum (JBNF) is to hold an event at the end of July where three local companies will pitch to investors.

And this week, I attended a meet-up hosted by the umbrella group, Bio Jerusalem, where the key-note speaker was Dr. Michael West. California-based and the CEO of Bio Time, West also founded Geron Corp in 1990, one of the prime forerunners of the global biotech industry. After his presentation, West helped to introduce three leading Israeli cell companies.

It is easy to explain this clustering by analyzing ‘the facts on the ground’. For example, the core strengths of some of Israel’s universities, including the brilliant facilities at the Weizman Institute in Rehovot, focus on biotech.. One can point out the strengths of having a multi-cultured work force which enhances pluralistic thought. However, such factors help to explain things from ‘bottom-up’. I believe there is something else at play.

Israel is not short of r&d centres, run by the multinationals and conglomerates. Last week, I visited one such operation in Tel Aviv with one of my clients. They employ 300 software engineers and similar on a myriad of projects. 30 are dedicated to improving their smartphone. Such changes are mainly based on greater understandings of bodily functions as opposed to improved tech-wired gadgets. In other words, the demand for greater bio tech is now being driven from top-down, and specifically by big pharma itself.

The success of Israeli bio is due to continue into the distant future. It is already impacting heavily on the lives of tens of millions across continents. This drive harnesses the abilities of all social groupings. What is bringing matters together is the drive of international corporates to latch on to these new capabilities from the Holy Land and to commercialise them.