A team of executives from Baxter International Inc. (NYSE:BAX) today completed a visit to Israel during which it looked at companies for possible collaboration in the development and marketing of pharmaceutical products. Of the 50 companies that made presentations to the team, fourteen were chosen for meetings, and three companies interested Baxter enough to justify follow-on meetings.
The company declined to disclose the names of the companies, but said that they were early-stage companies. The team also met Hadasit Ltd., the technology transfer company of Hadassah University Hospital, Yeda R&D Company Ltd., the technology transfer company of the Wiezmann Institute of Science, and Israel Life Sciences Industry (ILSI).
Baxter has never invested in an Israeli company and has no cooperation agreements with any, although it markets products in Israel through a distributor and is a supplier of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) to Kamada Ltd. (TASE: KMDA). The company does not have a branch in Israel.
Baxter VP and chief scientific officer Norbert Riedel told "Globes", "The focus of our meetings was drug delivery systems and vaccines. After reviewing a list of companies that was sent to us, we saw that Israel has considerable sophistication in these fields."
"Globes": What kinds of collaboration are you seeking in Israel?
Riedel: "We usually seek one of thee possible types of collaboration: the purchase of rights to a product that is at some stage in the licensing process, which we can commercialize; joint development; or marketing of a product developed by our collaborator. We're a good choice for a commercial partnership because we have a global sales network both at hospitals and private institutes."
Are you considering acquisitions?
"This time, we met very early-stage companies. We usually prefer beginning with collaboration and only later considering acquisition."
"Globes" recently reported that you're in talks with Kamada to acquire the rights to its flagship product with an option to acquire the company at a value of $150-200 million. Do you have any comment?
"I mentioned three kinds of collaborations that we generally make: the acquisition of a product, joint development, or the marketing of a product developed by others. We're in negotiations with Kamada about one of these kinds of collaboration, concerning a product that we already have. However, Kamada can offer us its next-generation product (the reference is to Alpha-1 Antitrypsin (AAT) drug Alpha-1 Proteinase Inhibitor (API) for the treatment of congenital emphysema - G.W.) There are no negotiations for the acquisition of the company at this time, however."
What's your impression about Israel?
"The level of science is superb, the managers are experienced with a background of exposure to the US. Their thinking isn't limited to the Israeli market. Discussions were very pleasant and constructive."
Baxter VP Kenneth E. Burhop "The visit was wonderful, everyone was so nice! Jerusalem was inspiring. It's great to find so many companies concentrated in a single location. You see that the industry is cohesive, which is its competitive edge."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on November 29, 2007
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