The TASE has announced the opening of a new sub-sector for the biomedical sector. The decision to launch the new sector, announced last week, was taken in light of the wave of IPOs by pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical device companies since August 2005, following which the TASE decided to allocate these companies a sector of their own, rather than listing them under the “chemical,” “industry” and “investment” sectors as has been the case until now.
The new sub-sector will consist of 21 companies, of which 13 listed on the TASE last year. The critical mass of sufficient companies in this field to warrant a separate category on the TASE, represents an interesting development for the industry, and reaffirms the legitimate right of biomedical companies to participate in Israel’s capital market.
TASE Economics department senior VP Ronit Harel Ben Ze’ev said, “On learning of the news ,some the companies called to say that they welcomed the announcement about the sub-sector and viewed it positively. We believe that the sub-sector heralds a certain degree of change in ability of young Israeli high-tech companies to find their place in Israel’s capital market.”
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes.co.il - on June 18, 2006
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