Why is Cathie Wood's ARK Fund Backing this Israeli Innovator? (NASDAQ: MDWD)

WSW, NY, July 16th, 2026, FinanceWire

Cathie Wood's ARK Invest is best known for its high-profile technology bets, from electric vehicles to crypto. ARK made its name investing in big names, including, amongst others, Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA), Coinbase (NASDAQ: COIN), Palantir (NASDAQ: PLTR), and Robinhood (NASDAQ: HOOD).

Less known is that ARK also runs a fund dedicated to Israeli innovation, the ARK Israel Innovative Technology ETF (IZRL), a portfolio of public companies across health care, semiconductors, software and defense. One of its holdings is MediWound (NASDAQ: MDWD). The index fund holds roughly $1.9 million worth of MediWound stock, about 1.4% of the ~$140 million fund. Other names in the Israel fund include familiar innovators such as Mobileye (NASDAQ: MBLY), the autonomous-driving pioneer spun out of Intel; Check Point Software (NASDAQ: CHKP), the cybersecurity giant; and Teva Pharmaceutical (NYSE: TEVA), the global drug leader.

So What is MediWound? 

MediWound is an under the radar Israeli biotech company with an unusual origin story: its core technology comes from an enzyme found in pineapple stems. That enzyme, it turns out, is remarkably good at dissolving dead tissue while leaving healthy skin alone. The company has turned that discovery into two products. The first, NexoBrid, is already approved in the U.S., Europe, Japan and more than 40 other countries for treating severe burns. The second, EscharEx, is still in trials but targets a much bigger opportunity in chronic wounds. But what’s been starting to get attention recently is MediWound’s potential alignment with one of the most important macro trends we’ve been seeing the past few years. 

The Defense Connection

Three years of war in Ukraine and the Middle East have rewritten government spending priorities. NATO's Hague summit set a new 3.5% of GDP defense target, and for the first time medical preparedness and civil resilience count toward it. The European Union has committed hundreds of millions to build up strategic medical reserves. Policymakers everywhere have learned that the medical layer behind the frontline is just as much a stockpiling problem as missiles and drones. And MediWound happens to sit right in the middle of that conversation.

To understand why, you have to know what NexoBrid actually does. It is a gel you apply directly to a severe burn, and four hours later the dead tissue is gone. No surgery, no operating room, no surgical team. In a mass-casualty event, where the operating rooms fill up first and patients wait in line for surgeons who are already overwhelmed, it is the difference between treating everyone and choosing who to save.

The U.S. was ahead of this. BARDA, the federal agency in charge of preparing for medical emergencies, has been quietly funding NexoBrid for over a decade. In April 2026, that quiet support became a headline. BARDA handed MediWound's U.S. partner, Vericel (NASDAQ: VCEL), a new ten-year contract worth up to $197 million. The money covers stockpiling the drug for national emergencies, building a version stable at room temperature for battlefield use, and testing it for blast injuries.

The proof that this is more than a press release showed up a month later. On Vericel's May earnings call, the company raised its burn-care revenue forecast and pointed directly to the new BARDA orders as the reason. A federal contract had turned into real dollars on a public company's guidance. MediWound, which supplies the drug, has said it expects those same orders to start lifting its own revenue in the second half of 2026. All of this, for a company whose market cap is still hovering below $200 million.

The Potentially Bigger Story - Eschar Ex

The larger long-term driver, according to the Company, is EscharEx. EscharEx is MediWound's late-stage pipeline product. It is an investigational enzymatic biologic for chronic wounds such as venous leg ulcers, slow-healing sores on the lower leg, often linked to poor circulation, that can persist for months or years despite standard care. EscharEx is now enrolling in a global Phase III study called VALUE, the final stage of testing before MediWound could seek FDA approval. In an earlier Phase II study (ChronEx), MediWound reported complete debridement in 63% of the 46 patients treated with EscharEx, compared with 0% from a smaller, 8-patient sub-group treated with SANTYL, the long-established enzymatic debridement therapy that generates more than $400 million in annual sales; EscharEx patients also reached wound closure faster, an average of 48 days versus 76 days for SANTYL. That comparison was a secondary analysis within the larger trial, not a dedicated head-to-head study. Venous leg ulcers are only the first target: the company is advancing EscharEx toward other chronic wounds, with studies in diabetic foot ulcers planned, which points to potential well beyond a single indication. If EscharEx reaches the market, MediWound frames it as a possible new standard of care in a field that has seen little change in decades.

None of this is without risk, as with all BioTechs, the future will most likely depend on a combination of commercial execution and clinical results. The company now expects an interim assessment and completion of enrollment by the end of the first quarter of 2027 for EscharEx’s Phase 3 Clinical Trial. However, Cathie Wood’s ARK fund seems to think it's worth attention., possible because of this unique mix - a commercial asset governments are stockpiling, combined with late stage asset targeting a massive multi billion dollar chronic market. It is a combination that might explain why the company shares ARK’s portfolio with some of Israel's better-known innovators, even as it draws far less of the market's attention. For readers who first heard of MediWound through the fund it sits in, the company underneath the ticker may turn out to be the more interesting story.

Recent News Highlights From Mediwound (NASDAQ: MDWD)

MediWound Reports First Quarter 2026 Financial Results and Provides Corporate Update

Newly Published U.S. Expert Consensus Aligns with MediWound’s Strategy for Chronic Wound Debridement

MediWound to Present New EscharEx Data at Leading Wound Care Conferences

MediWound Reports BARDA Contract Award to Vericel for NexoBrid Valued at up to $197 Million

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