Oramed Pharmaceuticals Awarded Grant by the Office of the Chief Scientist of Israel
Oramed Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQCM: ORMP), a developer of oral drug delivery systems, announced today that its wholly owned Israeli subsidiary, Oramed Ltd., was awarded a government grant from the Office of the Chief Scientist ("OCS") at the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Labor of Israel.
Nadav Kidron, CEO of Oramed Pharmaceuticals, commented: "We are very pleased that Oramed was recognized as being a competitive developer of innovative oral drug delivery systems for the fourth year in a row. This grant will assist Oramed as we initiate Phase 2 clinical trials in the US on our oral insulin candidate."
The awarded grant amounts to a net sum of NIS 975,000 (approximately US$265,000). Once received, the funds will be designated and used by Oramed Ltd. to support further R&D and clinical studies on its oral insulin capsule (ORMD-0801) and oral exenatide capsule (ORMD-0901) from January 2013 to December 2013. Oramed Ltd. is required to pay royalties in the rate of 3% - 5% on sales of products and services derived from the technology developed using this and other OCS grants until the full dollar amount of the grants are repaid, plus interest. In the absence of such sales, no payment is required.
About The Office of the Chief Scientist
The OCS is the arm of the Israeli government tasked with cultivating the development of industrial R&D within the State of Israel. The mission of the OCS, as defined by the "Law for the Encouragement of Industrial Research and Development-1984," is to assist the advancement of Israel's knowledge-based science and technology industries in order to encourage entrepreneurship and innovative technology development. This support plays a role in stimulating economic growth within Israel and in keeping Israel on the competitive edge of the global hi-tech industry.
About Oramed Pharmaceuticals
Oramed Pharmaceuticals is a technology pioneer in the field of oral delivery solutions for drugs and vaccines currently delivered via injection. Established in 2006, Oramed's technology is based on over 30 years of research by top research scientists at Jerusalem's Hadassah Medical Center. Oramed is seeking to revolutionize the treatment of diabetes through its proprietary flagship product, an orally ingestible insulin capsule (ORMD-0801) currently initiating Phase 2 clinical trials under an Investigational New Drug application with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and with its oral exenatide capsule (ORMD-0901; a GLP-1 analog), with trials on healthy volunteers (Phase 1b) and diabetic patients (Phase 2a) underway. The company's corporate and R&D headquarters are based in Jerusalem.
For more information, the content of which is not part of this press release, please visit http://www.oramed.com
Forward-looking statements: This press release contains forward-looking statements. For example, we are using forward-looking statements when we discuss receiving OCS grants and initiating Phase 2 clinical trials on our oral insulin. These forward-looking statements are based on the current expectations of the management of Oramed only, and are subject to a number of factors and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements, including the risks and uncertainties related to the progress, timing, cost, and results of clinical trials and product development programs; difficulties or delays in obtaining regulatory approval or patent protection for our product candidates; competition from other pharmaceutical or biotechnology companies; and our ability to obtain additional funding required to conduct our research, development and commercialization activities. In addition, the following factors, among others, could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements: changes in technology and market requirements; delays or obstacles in launching our clinical trials; changes in legislation; inability to timely develop and introduce new technologies, products and applications; lack of validation of our technology as we progress further and lack of acceptance of our methods by the scientific community; inability to retain or attract key employees whose knowledge is essential to the development of our products; unforeseen scientific difficulties that may develop with our process; greater cost of final product than anticipated; loss of market share and pressure on pricing resulting from competition; laboratory results that do not translate to equally good results in real settings; our patents may not be sufficient; and final that products may harm recipients, all of which could cause the actual results or performance of Oramed to differ materially from those contemplated in such forward-looking statements. Except as otherwise required by law, Oramed undertakes no obligation to publicly release any revisions to these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. For a more detailed description of the risks and uncertainties affecting Oramed, reference is made to Oramed's reports filed from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission.