BioLineRx, Novartis Collaborate On Israeli-Sourced Drug Candidates
By Cyndi Root
BioLineRx and Novartis Pharma AG have partnered to develop and market Israeli drug candidates. The companies announced the multi-year agreement in a press release, stating that BioLineRx has ties to academic institutions, hospitals, and biomedical companies in Israel while Novartis has expertise in evaluating products. The companies intend to develop a number of candidates.
Dr. Kinneret Savitsky, CEO of BioLineRx, said, "This is a transformative collaboration for BioLineRx. Working closely with Novartis at relatively early stages of project development will enable us to tailor our development processes to meet their needs and expectations, helping to ensure agreed upon clinical goals are met successfully.”
BioLineRx will source its contacts in Israel and evaluate candidates before bringing them to Novartis for consideration via a Joint Steering Committee. If a candidate reaches the clinical stage, Novartis may elect to select the project for an option fee of $5 million and agrees to fund 50 percent of the development costs. Novartis has an exclusive right to negotiate the license for the product. Novartis has agreed to make an initial $10 million equity investment in BioLineRx, which does not include any governance rights.
About BioLineRx
BioLineRx licenses novel compounds from academic institutions and biotech companies in Israel. The company develops candidates in the pre-clinical and clinical stages, and partners with pharmaceutical companies to advance the agents through clinical development and marketing. Current products include BL-1040 for prevention of pathological cardiac remodeling following a myocardial infarction, BL-8040 for cancer, and BL-7010 for celiac disease.
Israel Market
The Israeli market is becoming more attractive to the pharmaceutical industry. Recently, WuXi AppTec, a contract research organization (CRO), partnered with Pontifax to develop Israeli biotechnology and opened an office in Israel. Pontifax has agreed to invest in WuXi’s products and services, marketing them in the Israeli market. WuXi states that Israel is attractive due to its capacity for innovation and for the quality of its healthcare system.
A Market Research report titled, “Israel Pharmaceuticals and Healthcare Report Q2 2014,” states that the pharmaceutical industry is well-developed and ripe for multinational companies to invest in. The market size is $2 billion and not expected to grow substantially.