Aposense Ltd. has signed a cooperation agreement with Belgium's Ion Beam Applications SA (IBA) (Euronext: IBAB), a global provider of PET radiopharmaceuticals, which will commercialize Aposense's novel apoptosis (programmed cell death) agent for molecular imaging and therapy, [18F]-ML-10.
IBA will finance further development of the product, which is currently undergoing a Phase II clinical trial. IBA will finance the trial and also invest in Aposense.
If the product is approved for marketing, IBA and Aposense will set up a joint marketing network for it. IBA will primarily focus on marketing of the molecule to radiologists in its core PET imaging and nuclear medicine market, and Aposense will market it to the referring clinical specialist market, including neurologists, oncologists, and cardiologists.
IBA will invest tens of millions of dollars in the joint project. Together with Aposense's $20 million in cash from its last financing round, the money will suffice for the molecule's development through the Phase III clinical trial and applying for marketing approval with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Sources inform ''Globes'' that Aposense is in talks with several US investment banks for an IPO on Nasdaq, if the market climate permits.
Aposense CEO Yoram Ashery told "Globes", "This agreement with IBA enables us to share the financing and risk with another party and obtain assistance of IBA's know-how and capabilities in the distribution field, while we still retain control of the product and marketing. In this way we keep control of our fate in our hands, as well as most of the revenue from product sales."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on September 22, 2009
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