Check-Cap, which is developing a pill that conducts an X-ray scan of the intestine, has raised $12 million in a private placement led by Chinese company Fosun Pharma. Previous investors who participated in the round included GE Healthcare, Docor, Pontifax, the Counterpoint fund, MNS, and others. Biomedix Incubator Ltd. (TASE:BMDX) has a 6% stake in Check-Cap.
The current financing round is in the form of a line of credit from which Check-Cap can draw up to $12 million. The investors granting the loan are entitled to convert it into shares over 10 years. The report of the deal said that the investors can also convert the loan into shares in the framework of a public offering by the company.
Sources inform "Globes" that Check-Cap recently renewed its consideration of a Nasdaq public offering. The company considered a Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE) IPO in 2010, but did not go through with it, because it was unable to obtain the company value it had hoped for. The company has developed significantly since then, raising capital from GE Healthcare and beginning clinical trials, and hopes to obtain marketing authorization in Europe before next year.
This is Fuson Pharma's first investment in Israel since acquiring Alma Lasers in 2013 for $221 million and announcing its plan to make its company in Israel the basis for additional acquisitions and investments in the medical field.
The Cukierman & Co. Life Sciences investment firm, headed by Dr. Laurent Choppe, was the investment banker for the deal.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on October 19, 2014
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