BioLight Israeli Life Sciences Investments Ltd. (TASE:BOLT), controlled by Israel Makov, published a financial plan for the next three years today. BioLight is a holding company that develops clusters of life sciences companies in similar fields that work together.
The financial plan includes:
- Raising NIS 20 million from private or public offerings to support a cluster that specializes in cancer diagnostics, based on Zetiq Technologies Ltd. and Micromedic Technologies Ltd. (TASE:MCTC).
- A private or public raising of NIS 30 million to support a cluster that specializes in Glaucoma, based on IOPtima Ltd.
- A private NIS 10 million offering for overall management of all of the clusters.
- A listed investment fund of NIS 100 million that will be used to create additional clusters, with the help of the Ministry of Finance, and as part of the Comparative Advantage program that was created to encourage institutional investment in venture capital companies, by providing partial protection against losses.
BioLight CEO Suzana Nahum-Zilberberg said that it was possible that the planned fundraising for the clusters would be partially of fully replaced by collaboration with large companies. "In the next year or two, we will focus on two clusters that have already begun operating, in the cancer treatment and ophthalmic fields, and only after we have established our model will we create additional clusters," Nahum-Zilberberg said.
"The problem is a lack of creativity"
Makov acquired control of BioLight a year ago for NIS 10 million, and through it acquired control of Micromedic, into which he merged Zetiq, which BioLight owned. The market cap of the company rose 15% following Makov's entry, at which point BioLight was trading at NIS 40 million. Today BioLight's market cap is NIS 37 million. The company's share price fell 1% following the financial plan announcement .
In the meantime, BioLight has also published its development plan for each of its subsidiaries in the two existing clusters. In the cancer treatment cluster, the leading company is Zetiq, which has completed development of a product with improved cervical cancer diagnostic capabilities. "First we will focus on marketing to developing countries that currently have no solution, and we will subsequently turn to Western countries that already have existing solutions, but that which in our eyes are inferior," Nahum-Zilberberg said. Zetiq is also developing a product to diagnose bladder cancer, and is in negotiations for collaboration with foreign companies.
In its ophthalmic cluster, BioLight currently has one technology: lasers for Glaucoma surgery developed by IOPtima. The products are currently being sold in India and Israel, and the company plans to expand first to developing countries.
"Hundreds of life sciences companies have been created in Israel in the last few years. Unfortunately, it is likely that most of them will not reach the finishing line," Makov said today. Makov believes that companies suffer from a lack of financing, management skills, understanding of product development and of markets, and that the cluster model will solve this problem. "We enable the companies to benefit from the strength of the other companies, from their strategic experience, and from the benefits of financing and exposure to opinion leaders in the medical field."
Makov added that, "Lack of innovation is problematic. The pharmaceutical companies have knowledge, but there is no creativity being generated through the exchange of ideas between people who work in the same field, but see things from different angles."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on February 20, 2012
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