Bonus Biogroup Ltd. (TASE: BONS), which has developed a method for producing bone grafts from stem cells, has begun a clinical trial of jawbone grafts. The trial's interim results are due in four months.
Bonus Biogroup's share price rose 10.4% in morning trading on the TASE, following the announcement, to NIS 0.245, giving a market cap of NIS 50 million.
At its facility in Haifa, Bonus Biogroup produces cells from fatty tissue and uses its proprietary technology to encourage them to differentiate into bone cells for bone grafts. To date, the product has only been tested in animals.
In a month, Bonus Biogroup's production center will complete growing the graft in the first patient from whom a fat sample was taken. The company hopes that the patient's body will accept the graft with no signs of rejection, because it originates from the patient's own body. If that is the case, the process will be repeated in 20 patients.
The trial is due to be completed within a year from start of the grafts.
In its financial report for 2013, Bonus Biogroup said that it needs to raise $5-7 million in 2014-15 to move forward trials for this and other products. The company has NIS 6.5 million in cash reserves.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on April 7, 2014
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