Medgenics Ltd. (AIM:MEDG; AMEX: MDGN) has won a NIS 8.1 million ($2.2 million) grant from the Office of the Chief Scientist. This is the sixth straight year that the company's subsidiary Medgenics Medical Israel Ltd. has obtained a Chief Scientist grant.
The grant will finance Medgenics' R&D expenses in October 2011-September 2012 for the clinical development of its proprietary tissue-based Biopump platform technology for the treatment of anemia, hepatitis, and other diseases.
Under the terms of the Chief Scientist grant, Medgenics Israel will repay the grant in full, plus interest, through royalties on revenue received from commercializing the developed technology. The payment of royalties is contingent on such revenues and, in the absence of such revenue, no royalty payments to the Chief Scientist are required.
Medgenics president and CEO Dr. Andrew Pearlman said that the support underscores the Office of the Chief Scientist's ongoing belief in the potential of our innovative Biopump platform technology. "Prior grants have helped to fund the development of our technology to a point where we are now working to commence clinical trials for the treatment of anemia and hepatitis in the US and Israel. We anticipate this grant will further advance our product development and will help us to achieve a number of important milestones," he added.
Medgenics's share price rose 0.7% on London’s Alternative Investment Market (AIM) today to £3.42, and will open at $6.25 on the American Stock Exchange, giving a market cap of $61 million.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on May 10, 2012
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