The company has concluded a binding MOU to license and develop new technology, developed by Dr. Miya Levite, for the treatment of several types of cancer.
TK Signal, a subsidiary of Hadasit Bio-Holdings, Ltd. (TASE: HDST), has signed a binding memorandum of understanding to license new technology to treat cancer. Under the terms of the licensing agreement, the company will receive exclusive rights to develop a drug that has been shown in laboratory trials to have the potential to kill cancer cells directly, quickly, efficiently, and specifically, using a mechanism that has already been identified in part by Dr. Levite.
The drug, which was developed to regulate blood pressure in intensive-care units, has been in use for 15 years and has been demonstrated to be relatively safe and without significant side-effects Recently Dr. Levite discovered its previously unknown effectiveness in killing leukemia and lymphoma cells.
Under the licensing agreement, TK Signal will also acquire exclusive rights to develop other compounds belonging to the same family and which have the same specific chemical and biological properties as the drug in question.
The terms of the deal include a one-time payment when the contract is signed, royalties, milestone payments, and a consulting agreement.
TK Signal currently has approximately $1.1 million in cash. The agreement should allow it to complete the preparations for and to begin Phase II clinical trials on cancer patients (in several medical centers in Israel and abroad). Because the drug was developed for a different indication and has been approved for use in human beings, the company believes that the development time will be shorter than usual, with no need for a Phase I clinical trial of drug toxicity or safety. The company expects to begin the trial within 9 months. The clinical trial will investigate the effect of the drug on patients with lymphoma and leukemia. The company estimates that the current market for the leading products for these diseases totals $ 8 billion a year.
In addition to the licensing agreement, the company has concluded an options agreement with Hadasit, the technology transfer company of the Hadassah–Hebrew University Hospital.
Subsequent to the immediate report issued by HBL on July 8, 2007 (Ref. 2007-01-316996) that Prof. Eyal Mishani, who developed the company’s original technology, intends to continue developing advanced diagnostic tools for early detection of cancer by means of PET scan, Hadasit has announced that it will develop new radioactive tags for several receptors expressed in various types of tumors.
This expansion of the company’s R&D platform will make it possible to detect more kinds of cancer. TK Signal will not pay the cost of this development (except for patent expenditures). The company has received an option to commercialize the results of the research with no additional cost.
According to Ophir Shahaf, CEO of Hadasit Bio-Holdings, “HBL is sticking by its commitment to its investors - aggressively promoting our portfolio companies on the road to trials while making use of the company’s financial resources and special status at the Hadassah Medical Center. This is the start of a process that leads to creating value and attracting outside investors, as we have demonstrated in recent deals with strategic partners such as Teva.”
The company’s estimation of the outcome of the development work trials on the technology in question is forward-looking information, as this term is used in the Securities Law 5728-1968. The results of the actual development work and/or trials may differ from stated above, even materially so, due to various factors that are not within the company’s control.
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