Exalenz Bioscience Ltd. (TASE:EXEN) has signed a second agreement with Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE; LSE: PFZ) to use the company's BreathID noninvasive diagnostic kit for gastrointestinal disorders for testing Pfizer's drugs. The companies signed the first deal in November 2010.
Sources inform ''Globes'' that Pfizer will pay Exalenz $500,000 under the current agreement, compared with $800,000 in the previous one.
Agreements related to clinical trials do not generate substantial revenue for Exalenz, and are mainly intended to build status among strategic partners. That said, even though this revenue is small, the company will definitely benefit from Pfizer's payments. Exalenz posted a loss of NIS 16.2 million on NIS 1.5 million in January-November 2010.
In a separate announcement today, Exalenz announced that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has withdrawn its objections from October 2010 to the marketing of the company's Kit II component of the BreathID system for the detection of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) bacterium (a cause of ulcers). Exalenz could not market the product during the review, which severely hurt sales. The company estimates the H. pylori diagnostic market at several hundred million dollars.
Exalenz CEO Steven Eitan said, "We began sales in June. During the fourth quarter, we mainly focused on training doctors in using the BreathID. We're pleased by our achievements in penetrating the market."
The BreathID system already has an insurance indemnification code, giving $100 indemnification per unit.
Exalenz is due to shortly receive a report from an international research firm on the liver disease market, the next target for the BreathID diagnostic system. The liver disease market is larger than the H. pylori market. The report will state which liver diseases Exalenz should target for diagnosis. The company is currently conducting two large trials to confirm BreathID's ability to test liver function for patients with chronic and acute liver disease.
Exalenz's share price rose 1.3% today to NIS 0.92, giving a market cap of NIS 100 million.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on January 30, 2011
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