Hadasit Bio Holdings Ltd. (TASE:HDST; Bulletin Board: HADSY) portfolio company Enlivex Therapeutics Ltd., has raised $7 million in a convertible loan from a group of investors led by Shai Novik, the CEO of Opko Biologics (formerly Prolor).
In February, Hadasit Bio announced that Novik was organizing an investor group that was seeking to raise capital for Enlivex, in order to take it public in the US. It said that the step would be taken if the company raised at least $3.5 million, which means that the company raised double the minimum. Following the investment, Hadasit Bio's stake in the company will fall from 92% to 25.8%.
Enlivex is developing cell immunotherapy treatments for Graft versus Host Disease (GvHD), a lethal side effect of bone marrow transplants for the treat of blood cancer. Other Israeli companies are developing similar therapies, including Kamada Ltd. (Nasdaq: KMDA); TASE: KMDA), Pluristem Therapeutics Ltd. (Nasdaq:PSTI; TASE: PLTR), and Gamida Cell Ltd.
Enlivex has completed a Phase IIa clinical trial of its leading product, and will use the proceeds from the financing to initiate next stage trials. Enlivex will probably not be the only investment by Novik's investment group, which will operate in other medical fields.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on May 18, 2014
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