Israeli stem cell technology company Kadimastem (TASE: KDST) has had a chequered history, with frequent going concern warnings on its financials, a downward drifting share price from its 2016 peak, and the departure last year of founder and CEO Yossi Ben-Yosef. The company now hopes to have turned a corner with the appointment of a new and experienced CEO and new directors.
Kadimastem has named Asaf Shiloni, who was Vice President of Sales and Business Development at California-based PeproTech Inc., as CEO. PeproTech is the leading manufacturer of GMP Cytokines, vital components in all stem cell and cell therapy clinical trials. Kadimastem's announcement states that at PeproTech Shiloni established collaborations and joint ventures with top US stem cell companies and leading research labs worldwide, and also led M&A processes. Shiloni is returning to Israel from California to join his daughters, who moved to Israel a few years ago to serve in the IDF. He holds a BA in Computer Information Systems and Business from The College of Management and an MBA from Tel Aviv University.
This follows a series of executive management appointments in the last month, including Ronen Twito as co-chairperson of Kadimastem’s board of directors, and new expert board members, Doron Birger and Ron Mayron. The three are described as "highly accomplished biotechnology industry experts, dedicated to working in concert to secure a bright future for the company."
Twito is the founder of Amplify Capital where he is a director. Among the positions he has held are deputy CEO and CFO for biotechnology and pharma companies including XTL Biopharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: XTLB), Cellect Biotechnology (Nasdaq: APOP) and BioBlast Pharma (NasdaqCM: ORPN). Birger was chairman of Given Imaging (Nasdaq/TASE: GIVN), the camera-in-a-pill company that was acquired for $1 billion in 2014 by Covidien, and president and CEO of Elron Electronic Industries Ltd. (TASE: ELRN). Among various positions he has held in the healthcare industry, Mayron was CEO of Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (NYSE: TEVA; TASE: TEVA) unit Teva Israel and Teva's VP of Israel and Africa.
"I welcome Mr. Shiloni’s appointment to the company," Twito said. "Hiring a professional, top rate CEO is part of the company’s and the new board's strategy to advance the technology while creating business value and collaborations with US companies in the fields of stem cell and cell therapies."
"I am happy and excited to join Kadimastem’s executive management team and to work with the company’s new board of directors," Shiloni said. "I strongly believe in the science of the company and the abilities of internationally renowned Professor Michel Revel, Kadimastem’s Chief Scientist, one of the company’s co-founders as well as an Israel Prize award winner. I intend to work with the company’s team to advance the development of Kadimastem’s cell products for ALS and diabetes, as well as forward business development and collaborations with major entities in the US market that will create value for our shareholders."
Revel himself said, "With a professionally strong and positively harmonious executive team now in place, we have every expectation that Kadimastem has turned a very important corner and that the company is now in the right direction to reach its full and exciting potential in the field of cell therapy."
Kadimastem is a clinical stage cell therapy company, developing and manufacturing "off-the-shelf", allogeneic, proprietary cell products based on its technology platform for the expansion and differentiation of Human Embryonic Stem Cells (hESCs) into functional cells. The company's share price is currently up 6.9% on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on February 1, 2021
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