Psoriasis therapy developer DermiPsor Ltd. is in talks to merge with stock market shell Carmel Holdings Ltd. (TASE:CRHO) in a share-swap deal in which DermiPsor shareholder Capital Point Ltd. (TASE:CPTP) will exchange its 36.2% stake in the company for 80% of Carmel.
DermiPsor was founded in Capital Point's Meytag Technology Incubator in Katzrin
DermiPsor's DPS-101 psoriasis treatment combines two vitamin derivatives, one an anti-proliferative agent and the other an immunoregulatory agent, both of which provide anti-inflammatory effects. DPS-101 successfully completed a multicenter Phase IIb clinical trial in chronic plaque psoriasis patients. The study found that the therapy was safe and that its efficacy was substantially better than either of its ingredients, calcipotriol or nicotinamide, alone. The company is in talks with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on a Phase III trial, which it hopes to begin soon.
There are other non-steroid treatments for psoriasis, including vitamin-based Dovonex ointment, made by Warner Chilcott plc (Nasdaq: WCRX), and which will likely be DermiPsor's main competitor, assuming DPS-101 reaches market. A small comparative trial between the two drugs conducted by DermiPsor found that DPS-101 was more effective than Dovonex.
Tempo Beer Industries (TASE: TMPO) chairman Jacques Beer owns 79% of Carmel Holdings.
Carmel Holdings' share price rose 11.2% by mid-afternoon to NIS 1.84, giving a market cap of NIS 23 million. Capital Point's share price rose 2.5% to NIS 2.79, giving a market cap of NIS 26 million.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on November 10, 2011
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