Presidential hopeful Gareth Sheridan’s company paid an Israeli hospital that trains Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers $50,000 in a medical technology deal.
Sheridan founded and still holds a stake in Nutriband which did a deal with the tech unit of Rambam Medical Center – also the main referral hospital for the IDF's Northern Command – to license one of the hospital’s medical devices.
A spokesperson for Sheridan said, "We were not aware of any connections with the IDF at the time," adding, "We remotely reviewed tech details, info and did an evaluation of what would be."
SEC filings and corporate documents reviewed by The Ditch show that Nutriband signed an exclusive license agreement in 2020 with Rambam Med-Tech Ltd.
Earlier this week Sheridan called for "an immediate ceasefire" in Gaza, saying, "There isn't a person with a heart who would not be moved, distressed and outraged by what's unfolding there." He praised President Michael D Higgins for his "courage and leadership" about Palestine.
‘About as close to’ a military hospital ‘as possible’
Rambam Medical Center in Haifa lists itself as the referral hospital for the IDF's Northern Command and provides medical training to Israeli forces. These include those involved in the ongoing assault on Gaza, which the International Court of Justice has said may constitute genocide.
According to the American Friends of Rambam website the hospital has extensive connections to the Israeli military and trains Israel Defense Forces personnel. "Many IDF physicians are trained at Rambam, both at the medical center and in the field," the site reads. "Nurses, paramedics, and many others in the IDF medical corps are often in continuous collaboration with Rambam.”
"Rambam,” says its US fundraising arm, “is proud of its integrated relationship with the IDF" is "about as close to" a military hospital "as possible" in Israel. It also treats the US navy and UN peacekeepers
Gareth Sheridan, who this week announced his intention to seek nominations to run for the presidency, founded Nutriband in 2012, which according to SEC filings would raise $5.8 million in its first major public offering in October 2021.
Nutriband signed a licensing agreement with Rambam in 2020.
The agreement required Nutriband to make "thorough and diligent efforts to develop, produce, manufacture, market and sell licensed products in the field" using technology "developed and/or owned by Rambam Hospital”. The device was a pill crusher designed to dissolve solid medications for patients unable to swallow.
Nutriband planned to seek FDA approval to bring Rambam Hospital’s technology to the US market.
Nutriband paid $50,000 for the licensing rights through an intermediary – Israeli company BPM Inno Ltd – which simultaneously invested $700,000 in Sheridan's company. Corporate filings show BPM bought 94,962 shares in Nutriband at $7.37 per share while paying the licensing fee to Rambam "at the direction of the company”.
The arrangement gave BPM exclusive rights to act as Nutriband's agent with Rambam and a 4.5 percent commission on any future revenues from the Israeli technology. Under the terms, if Nutriband failed to bring Rambam's device to market within three years, BPM would get half of any future sales.
But the medical device venture never materialised. By October 2022, Nutriband had suspended development of the Rambam technology after market research found it was "not commercially viable in its current form," according to SEC filings.
A month later, Sheridan's company terminated both agreements – cutting ties with Rambam and ending its relationship with BPM. All intellectual property was returned to the Israeli hospital.
Last year doctors connected to the Rambam Medical Center argued in The Lancet that hospitals in Gaza “play a substantial role in shielding Hamas militants” and defended targeting them in attacks.
A spokesperson for Sheridan said, "We licensed a technology that involved the liquefying of oral medications for patients who are unable to swallow with Rambam Hospital Group. Our agreement with the Hospital Group was signed in December 2020 but was never developed as the investment required to develop the technology was beyond our reach at the time."
The spokesperson said, "Much has changed in the world since the time of our agreement in 2020," adding, "There isn't a person with a heart who would not be moved, distressed and outraged with what's unfolding in Gaza. As has been repeatedly requested by the Irish government we need an immediate ceasefire, the release of all hostages and the unhindered access of all humanitarian aid through recognised and established international channels such as the UN."
