By Pesach Benson • August 19, 2026
Jerusalem, 19 August, 2026 (TPS-IL) — An Israeli biotech company has begun preparations for what could become the world’s first implantation of an engineered spinal cord in a person paralyzed by spinal cord injury.
Ness-Ziona-based Matricelf has signed a collaboration agreement with Loewenstein Rehabilitation Medical Center, part of Clalit Health Services, to identify and evaluate potential patients and begin collecting blood samples needed to manufacture personalized neural implants.
Matricelf’s technology originated in the laboratory of Prof. Tal Dvir at Tel Aviv University’s Sagol Center for Regenerative Medicine. Dvir is also the company’s chief scientist. The company is developing biological neural implants designed to replace damaged spinal cord tissue and potentially restore movement.
Tel Aviv University on Aug. 20, 2024. Photo by Yossi Zeliger/TPS-IL
Spinal cord injuries affect millions of people worldwide, with traumatic injuries often resulting from road accidents, falls, sports injuries and acts of violence. Depending on the location and severity of the damage, patients can experience partial or complete paralysis.
Under the agreement, Loewenstein will oversee the clinical aspects of the collaboration, including identifying suitable candidates and evaluating their medical and rehabilitation status. Patients who agree to participate will provide blood samples that will be used to produce induced pluripotent stem cells, or iPSCs. These are adult cells that have been reprogrammed into stem cells capable of developing into other cell types.
The iPSCs will form the cellular component of an autologous neural implant, meaning an implant manufactured specifically for each patient using their own cells. According to Matricelf, using a patient’s own biological material is intended to reduce the risk of rejection and improve integration with the body.
The personalized implants take several months to produce. Matricelf said that beginning the blood-collection process now will allow manufacturing, scientific and regulatory preparations to proceed in parallel.
Personalized Neural Implants
If the process advances as planned, the company estimates that the procedure could take place in the first half of 2027. The first implantation procedure is expected to take place at Sheba Medical Center in Ramat Gan.
Matricelf describes the technology as a biological “spare part” for damaged spinal cord tissue. Researchers hope that, once implanted at the site of an injury, it could help restore neurological function and enable people with paralysis to stand and walk again.
However, the collaboration and patient-identification process do not constitute approval for a clinical trial or human implantation. Any treatment will require scientific and regulatory approval from Israel’s Health Ministry.
Dr. Dianne Michaeli, deputy director of the Orenstein Spinal Cord Injury Rehabilitation Department at Loewenstein, said the partnership combines Loewenstein’s clinical expertise with regenerative medicine research “in the hope that in the future it will be possible to offer new treatment options to people living with paralysis due to spinal cord injury.”
Matricelf says the procedure could become the world’s first implantation of its kind.
