Jerusalem-based biopharmaceutical company SpliSense, which is developing transformative mRNA-altering therapies for cystic fibrosis (CF) and other genetic pulmonary diseases, announced on Thursday the closing of a $28.5 million series B funding round. Orbimed, Israel Biotech Fund, Biotel Limited, Integra Holdings and the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation participated in the round. The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation invested a total of $8.4 million, half of which is to be allocated to preclinical studies and the other half for clinical trials on humans.
SpliSense was founded by Prof. Batsheva Kerem, PhD, a renowned geneticist from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and its technology is based on her research. Kerem was part of the research team that identified and cloned the CFTR gene. The technology was licensed from Yissum, the technology transfer office of Hebrew University.
Israel Biotech Fund (IBF), founded by Dr. David Sidransky, Dr. Yuval Cabilly and Ido Zairi, announced the closing of its second fund with a total of $112 million. The fund will focus on the investment and formation of Israeli biotech and pharma companies developing drugs at different stages of development and for various indications. Amongst the main limited partners of fund II are Harel Insurance, BMS, an international pharmaceutical company, and the CBG fund. The second fund will continue its collaboration with the international advisory team of the fund, which includes, among others, Dr. Sol Barer, founder of Celgene and Chairman of Teva, and Jeff Kindler, former CEO of Pfizer.
Israel Biotech Fund closes $112m second fund
IBF focuses on investments in drug development and medical diagnostics companies in all stages.
Israel Biotech Fund (IBF) has closed its $112 million second fund. The fund was founded by managing partners Dr. David Sidransky, Dr. Yuval Cabilly, and Ido Zairi. The main investors in the second fund include Harel Insurance Investments and Financial Services Ltd. (TASE: HARL), pharmaceutical giant Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS) and the CBG Capital private equity fund.
IBF s second fund is larger than its first fund, which amounted to $70 million, and slightly larger than the amount that it set out to raise.
Pfizer, AstraZeneca Selected To Establish New Innovation Lab
By NoCamels Team
December 30, 2020 2 minutes
The Israel Innovation Authority (IIA) and the National Digital Ministry have selected pharmaceutical companies Pfizer, AstraZeneca, Merck, and Teva to establish an Innovation Lab in order to research digital health and computational biology. The group will establish the lab at Rehovot Science Park.
The companies will join the Israel Biotech Fund and Amazon Web Services (AWS) to “assist early-stage entrepreneurs and startups to meet the challenges of the healthcare industry,” an IIA announcement said.
The lab is scheduled to open in 2021 and will join existing innovation labs as part of the Israel Innovation Authority’s Innovation Lab Program. It was awarded a government budget of NIS 32 million ($9.9 million), as well as additional financing from the winning group’s partners. The group was awarded a five-year operational franchise, and the IIA and National Digita
Aharon Aharon, CEO of the Israel Innovation Authority (Courtesy)
The lab is scheduled to open in 2021, and will be part of the innovation labs program set up by the Innovation Authority in 2017. The program seeks to prod international corporations into setting up these labs to support startups in their field of interest and to take part in the Israeli ecosystem by gaining exposure to a variety of innovative developments. For startup entrepreneurs, the labs present an opportunity to access technological infrastructure, market insights and industry expertise.
The consortium of the global pharma firms was selected via a competitive process held by the Innovation Authority together with the National Digital Ministry.