Israeli drug delivery giant Medgenics ($MEDG) is looking to collect $29.4 million in an effort to develop and commercialize its Biopump delivery platform designed to treat anemia, hepatitis and hemophilia. The underwritten public offering includes both common stock and Series A warrants.
The novel technology uses the patient's own tissue to help deliver therapeutic proteins for the treatment of these diseases, and the company hopes to extend it to other chronic conditions such as multiple sclerosis, arthritis, chronic pain and obesity. The minimally invasive procedure, Medgenics says, involves the removal of a sliver of skin tissue, which is then processed outside the body to deliver a gene that will enable the cells to produce a variety of needed proteins.
Last year, Medgenics performed Phase II trials of its erythropoietin (EPO) biopump, Epodure, which increases the amount of red blood cells in the bloodstream of anemic patients. And just recently, the company launched Phase I/II clinical trials of its Infradure Biopump to treat hepatitis B, C and D.
The cash grab is Medgenics' most recent commitment to what it hopes is a billowing global market for therapeutic proteins--last year it raked in $9.5 million to develop the platform.
- here's the release