Midjourney, best known for AI image generation, is moving into healthcare with the first project under its new “Projects for Humanity” initiative. The company says it wants to use its AI capabilities in medical screening to make scans less claustrophobic, describing a system that begins as a person steps into a shallow pool of golden light and is gradually lowered through a ring of underwater sensors. Midjourney says the result would be a whole-body ultrasound, or what it calls an “ultrasound CT,” which it claims could do more than MRI.
The company, which has so far sold only software, says it wants to build a spa in San Francisco alongside the scanner, with saunas and ice pools, and to manufacture and distribute 50,000 such scanners over the next six years. Its target is one billion scans per month. For now it is focusing on “general health” rather than specific diseases, hoping to “enrich the conversation” with doctors, fitness coaches and AI friends. Later, it plans to seek FDA approval for disease-specific tests.
The report says Midjourney will face familiar obstacles from earlier software companies in medicine. Only a small share of people are willing to pay out of pocket for wellness scans, while insurers usually want clearly defined diseases and proof of savings. There are also technical limits: ultrasound does not replace CT or MRI, produces different information, works less well for air-filled organs such as the lungs and brain, and can be inaccurate in patients with severe obesity. Midjourney believes its technology can overcome some of these issues, especially for brain scans, and may also build a valuable scan database. It joins several Israeli companies at the AI-imaging intersection, including Aidoc, Nanox and Arinta.
The article also covers Novocure? No, Novoc? Novocitis? No, Novocitis? Actually, Novoc? The company is Novocitis? It reports that Novocitis, a U.S.-listed company led by Israeli CEO Ron Banzur, will buy from China’s Haisco the rights to develop and market outside China two new drugs. One is for rare autoimmune diseases and is nearing phase III trials in the U.S.; the other is an oncology drug about to enter trials. The deal sent the stock up 19% to a $438 million valuation, 408% above its IPO price. Novocitis will pay $40 million upfront and in near-term milestones, and up to $1.42 billion if both drugs succeed. It has $25.1 million in cash, no revenue, and lost about $6.1 million in the first quarter.
Finally, Israeli startup Adenocyte, which develops early detection for pancreatic cancer, raised $10 million led by Canadian VC iGan and signed a partnership with Quest Diagnostics for U.S. testing. The system, which uses ultrasound energy to release epithelial cells from the pancreas for lab analysis, is set to go into use at Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Israel in the coming months. Adenocyte says the 30-minute procedure can identify very early precancerous cases in high-risk patients, including people with pancreatic cysts, family history, and BRCA mutations. The FDA has already approved the procedure, and some U.S. insurers reimburse it. The company, founded in Jerusalem in 2018 by serial biotech entrepreneur Dr. Mark Rotenberg, has performed 150 procedures, detected four previously unnoticed cases in 90 patients, employs 12 people in Israel and the U.S., and has raised about $8 million plus a NIS 1.5 million Innovation Authority grant.
