- On the Path to a First License Agreement -
TEL AVIV, Israel, April 19, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Cellect Biomed Ltd. (TASE:CLBD) (“Cellect” or the “Company”), a developer of innovative technology which enables the functional selection of stem cells, announced today that it has signed a collaboration agreement with leading Israeli stem cell company, Accellta.
Pursuant to the collaboration agreement, Accellta will receive a nonexclusive right to evaluate the impact of Cellect’s apoptotic induction based technology on Accellta’s stem cell culturing technologies.
The details of the process and products will be jointly determined and include feasibility tests. The tests will evaluate the potential of growing Accellta's pluripotent cells safely and in a shorter time using Cellect's technology. A proof of feasibility in these tests may lead to the application of the cells to create organs, to repair tissue and to develop drugs. The potential market for these applications is estimated at billions of dollars.
In exchange for the limited right to test Cellect’s technology, Accellta will pay the Company approximately NIS300,000. The evaluation stage will last several months, and once concluded, the companies will begin negotiating the terms of a full license to Cellect’s technology, restricted to research purposes only. The commercial terms of a future licensing agreement, if any, will be jointly determined in good faith and based on comparable license deals.
The unique technological platform, developed by Cellect, may provide valuable solutions to not only companies, but also the medical research sector, in the cells field in general and stem cells in particular.
Dr. Shai Yarkoni, CEO of Cellect, noted, "We are excited about the signing of the collaboration agreement for feasibility tests between the two companies. This collaboration may provide Cellect with access to an enormous, attractive field of tissue regeneration and production, in which it doesn't currently operate. The platform developed by Cellect allows us to target multiple markets while focusing on our core technology. The Company's business model is based on the development of its own products for medical applications and the granting of licenses for its technology to other companies and research institutions operating in the stem cell field, using these collaborations to enter new markets. Granting licenses to external parties for complementary developments, which do not compete with Cellect's clinical applications, allows for lower costs and significantly increased success potential, thereby dramatically reducing the Company’s overall risk profile."
Dr. Itzchak Angel, Accellta's Chairman and CEO, added, “Accellta is a pioneer in differentiation of stem cells in suspension worldwide. Therefore, we believe Cellect's technology may present an excellent synergy to our own."
About Accellta
The company was founded in 2012 by the Alfred Mann Institute at Technion (AMIT) on the basis of two decades of research at the Stem Cell Center in the Technion’s Rappaport Faculty of Medicine. Amongst its shareholders are the Technion Fund, the AMIT and Horizons Ventures. Accellta specializes in the development of processes and methods for human stem cells production and differentiation in suspension, using bioreactors and unique substances, with no animal products and serum-free. The company is the owner of more than 50 patents. The potential applications of Accellta's technologies are various, and include the development of cell-based medical therapies, research tools and methods, drug screening and development (an alternative for lab animals), tissue engineering (for instance, the 3D printing of tissues) and even the production of meat for consumption from stem cells (without the killing of animals).
About Cellect
Cellect develops an innovative technology which enables the functional selection of stem cells based on their sensitivity to apoptosis. This functional-based selection is an international breakthrough in the ability to isolate stem cells from mature cells, thereby improving a variety of stem cells applications.
The company’s first product line will include unique containers for cell selection in an apoptosis-inducing microenvironment. Cellect has proved in extensive lab studies that the use of apoptosis can largely increase the stem cell concentration in samples taken from bone marrow donors, as well as umbilical cord blood. The first commercial product of the company is a medical kit designed for the cancer treatment bone marrow transplantations market, as well as other markets which require cell selection. The company estimates that in the future its technology will be integrated in many production procedures of stem cell-based product.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release may contain forward-looking statements, about Cellect's expectations, beliefs or intentions regarding, among other things, its product development efforts, business, financial condition, results of operations, strategies or prospects. In addition, from time to time, Cellect or its representatives have made or may make forward-looking statements, orally or in writing. Forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking words such as "believe," "expect," "intend," "plan," "may," "should" or "anticipate" or their negatives or other variations of these words or other comparable words or by the fact that these statements do not relate strictly to historical or current matters. These forward-looking statements may be included in, but are not limited to, various filings made by Cellect with the TASE, press releases or oral statements made by or with the approval of one of Cellect's authorized executive officers. Forward-looking statements relate to anticipated or expected events, activities, trends or results as of the date they are made. Because forward-looking statements relate to matters that have not yet occurred, these statements are inherently subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause Cellect's actual results to differ materially from any future results expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Many factors could cause Cellect's actual activities or results to differ materially from the activities and results anticipated in such forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, the factors summarized in Cellect's filings with the TASE. In addition, Cellect operates in an industry sector where securities values are highly volatile and may be influenced by economic and other factors beyond its control. Cellect does not undertake any obligation to publicly update these forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.