Cell Cure Neurosciences Ltd. has raised additional $3.5 million from shareholder from BioTime Inc. (AMEX: BTX) through a share swap. BioTime bought 87,456 Cell Cure shares in exchange for 906,735 BioTime shares. Following the deal, BioTime will own, directly and through its wholly owned subsidiary ES Cell International Pte. Ltd., 62.6% of Cell Cure. The value of the investment is based on BioTime's share price of $3.86 and was made at a company value of $15.1 million, before money, for Cell Cure.
Cell Cure's other shareholders are Hadasit Bio Holdings Ltd. (TASE:HDST; Bulletin Board: HADSY) with a 21% stake after the deal, and Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (NYSE: TEVA; TASE: TEVA) with a 16.4% stake.
Cell Cure develops human cell-based therapies for the treatment of retinal and neural degenerative diseases. Its lead product under development is OpRegen, a proprietary formulation of retinal cells designed to provide a long-term therapy for dry age-related macular degeneration, the leading cause of blindness in the aging population. The company plans to apply to begin human clinical trials in 2013.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on November 11, 2012
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