Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (Nasdaq: TEVA; TASE: TEVA) has invested $1 million in Meytav Technological Enterprises Innovation Center Ltd. portfolio company Novotyr Therapeutics Ltd. and has an option to invest several million dollars more for a 27% stake in the company.
Novotyr, founded in 2005, is developing proprietary novel inhibitors of an insulin-like growth factor receptor (IGF1R), as drugs for the treatment of cancer and other diseases. The company plans to begin clinical trials in 2009.
Sources inform ''Globes'' that Teva is also in negotiations with another Meytav portfolio company, Braintact Ltd. The terms of the deal have not yet been set. The company, also founded in 2005, is developing a treatment for several neurodegenerative conditions that result from acute events, such as stroke, traumatic brain injury, nerve agents exposure, open heart surgery, or develop chronically in diseases such as glaucoma, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), or HIV dementia. The company recently submitted favorable results of animal trials to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which has approved fast-track clinical trials for the drug.
These deals indicate that Teva has launched a new wave of investments in Israeli start-ups in order to strengthen its pipeline of innovative products. Teva aims to develop at least one innovative product a year beginning in 2010.
Meytav is a subsidiary of Biomedix Incubator Ltd. (TASE:BMDX). Pontifax, owned by Teva chairman Eli Hurvitz, owns 20% of Biomedix, and through it, has made investments in both Novotyr and Braintact.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on June 18, 2008
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