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LifeBond raises $20 million from Giza, Aurum, Pitango, GlenRock, Zitelman, and Robert Taub May 25, 2011

Posted by israelhealthcare in Biosurgery, Health Care Startups, Life Science, Medical Device, Medical Device Startups.
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Biosurgery device company LifeBond has raised $20 million in a new financing round led by Giza Venture Capital and Morris Kahn’s Aurum Ventures. Existing investors: Pitango Venture Capital, GlenRock Israel, Zitelman Group, and Robert Taub, also participating in this round. This third investment round brings LifeBond’s total funding to $30 million.

LifeBond is developing surgical sealants and hemostats intended for preventing leakage and bleeding. Proceeds from the round will be used for completion of the pre-clinical and clinical phases of the Company’s initial product: LifeSealGI, a sealant indicated for reinforcement of gastro-intestinal anastomoses.

LifeBond anticipates that LifeSealGI will reach the market toward the end of 2012, pending regulatory approval. In addition, the company will continue to develop its severe bleeding control product, LifePatch, which is based on the same technology platform.

“Surgical teams are actively seeking innovative wound closure products with improved performance and ease-of-use to seal surgical staple-lines and stop severe bleeding,” said LifeBond CEO Ishay Attar. “We are looking forward to using the proceeds provided by this round to bring our first products to market as early as possible. Once approved, our products will become essential parts of the surgical toolbox and significantly improve surgical care.”

LifeBond was founded in 2007 by Attar and Orahn Preiss-Bloom, the company VP Operations. The Company’s headquarters is located in Caesarea Industrial Park, Israel.

Merck Serono to invest $14 million in Israeli biotech companies April 4, 2011

Posted by israelhealthcare in Health Care Startups, Life Science.
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Merck Serono, the biopharmaceutical division of Merck KGaA, will invest $14 million (€10 million) in Israeli biotech companies during the next seven-year.

The company has initiated the Merck Serono Israel Bioincubator Fund, a strategic and corporate initiative targeting Israeli biotechnology startups. The bioincubator, which will be launched officially towards end of 2011, designed to accelerate the successful development of entrepreneurial startup companies. It will offer both seed financing and the opportunity to use a dedicated part of Merck Serono’s Israeli research and development center, Interlab, for their own research.

“Because biotech companies and spin offs from academia in Israel have a high innovation potential, this initiative is very promising for Merck Serono,” said Dr. Bernhard Kirschbaum, Executive Vice President of Global Research & Development at Merck Serono. “Our collaboration through the Merck Serono Israel Bioincubator Fund will create exciting opportunities.”

“During its long history in Israel, Merck Serono has experienced the willingness of small startups to link with larger and more experienced companies that can help them guide product development and company growth,” said Susan Herbert, Executive Vice President of Global Portfolio Development at Merck Serono. “By offering startups the funding options and access to more resources that could help move breakthrough concepts into the pre-clinical phase, we can create significant early-stage opportunities and build crucial relations needed for the in-licensing of promising new compounds.”

Israeli biotech startups will be selected based on their potential for developing innovative technologies aligned with the company’s strategy, which could enable the discovery and development of new products. By nurturing biotech startups at an early stage of development, the company is seeking to secure innovations for future application in its focus business areas of Oncology, Neurodegenerative Diseases, Rheumatology, Fertility and Endocrinology.

In 2010, the Life Sciences sector in Israel led capital raising with $350 million or 28% of the total $1.26 billion raised by Israeli high-tech companies from local and foreign venture investors, according to IVC Research data.

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Israel’s life science industry exports will doable to $10 billion by 2009 June 6, 2007

Posted by israelhealthcare in Life Science.
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Exports of the Israel’s life science industry will doable to $10 billion by 2009, according to a new forecast by Israel Export Institute, that revealed before the opening of Biomed 2007 conference, the key event of Israel’s life science industry.

The sector’s exports increased by 32% to $4.7 billion in 2006 and grow by 26% to $1.2 billion in the first quarter of 2007.

Other new figures that reported towards the Biomed Israel 2007 Week, show that in the last six months (November 2006 to May 2007), the Israel Chief Scientist office earmarked $100 million in budgets for the life science industry.

The Chief Scientist handled applications from 58 companies for support in 114 specific projects. Of the $100 million given to the life science industry, research and development budgets accounted for $41 million.

The figures also show that support of the life science industry continues to grow its share of the Chief Scientist’s “budget pie”. In 2000, the Chief Scientist office allocated 14% of its budget to this area. By 2003, the rate was 23% and in 2006 28% of the total budget.

A breakdown into industry segments shows that biotechnology received the largest share of the Chief Scientist’s R&D allocations with $31 million, compared with $27 million in 2005. Medical devices protected its share at $25 million, while pharmaceuticals increased their share of R&D support from $17 million in 2005 to $22 million in 2006.

Total R&D grants extended by the Chief Scientist office for life science ventures in 2006 was $78 million. 20% of the approved programs were for medical devices, 43% for bio-pharma and 37% for biotechnology.

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Israel Life Science M&As and IPOs totaled $736 million in 2006 May 17, 2007

Posted by israelhealthcare in Life Science.
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The number of Mergers & Acquisitions (M&As) and IPOs of Israeli life sciences companies totaled $736 million in 2006. This amount accounts for 7.4% of total M&As carried out by Israeli technology companies in 2006. According to a new survey held by IVC Research Center towards the Biomed Israel 2007 Week.

Nine life science companies raised $85 million in IPOs carried out in stock exchanges in the USA, Europe, Asia and Israel, which accounts for 12.3% of the IPOs of all high tech companies in Israel. 41% of the IPOs of life science companies were of medical instrumentation companies. The survey also reveals that 77 new life science companies were established from the beginning of 2006.

“2007 figures testify for an increase in the scope of IPOs by life science companies as compared with 2006, said Efrat Zakai, IVC’s research manager. ”From the beginning of the year, companies issued shares at total value of $145 million. The three most prominent IPOs were of BioLineRX and Itamar Medical, which were issued at the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, and Rosetta Genomics, which was issued at NASDAQ at $30.2 million.”

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