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RedHill Biopharma raises $10mNov 04, 2010 (Globes - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- RedHill Biopharma Ltd. has raised $10 million from private investors and small funds. Investors include Fidelity Venture Capital, the Lautman family, Fischer Pharmaceutical Laboratories Ltd., Dr. Shmuel Kabili (the inventor of Genentech Inc's Kabili patents), and others. RedHill is considering raising a similar amount on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE) early next year. RedHill has big ambitions. It wants to become a leading pharmaceutical company with R&D capabilities and a global marketing network. The two-year old company currently has only ten employees, but has six drugs in advanced stages in the pipeline. RedHill's strategy is to acquire drugs undergoing advanced clinical trials from distressed companies, move forward on regulatory procedures, and then collaborate with large pharmaceutical companies, or market the drugs independently if they are for a small market. RedHill CEO Dror Ben Asher said, "The concept arose during the crisis in 2008. Many companies, especially public companies, were in distress, and offered excellent products for low prices. We saw the opportunity, and activated our network of ties to seek these products. We made four transactions, one of them for three drugs." "Globes": Large pharmaceutical companies are complaining about a shortage of drugs in advanced stages. Why don't they buy these drugs? Ben Asher: "Even though large companies have dozens of business development people, they don't see everything that's happening in the market. Beside, large companies move too slowly for a cash-strapped start-up." Four drugs in advanced clinical trials requires a lot of money. "All our products are new versions of drugs that are on the market. We will therefore probably undergo fairly short regulatory procedures, with trials that will cost only a few million dollars and take only a few months to conduct." RedHill's lead product, acquired from Australia's Giaconda Ltd. (ASX: GIA), is a treatment of Crohn's Disease, an autoimmune disease of the intestine for which there is no good treatment. What did the name RedHill originate? "We're both from Kibbutz Givat Brenner. Near the kibbutz is a ridge of hills, including one of red sand, which is disappearing because of theft of the soil. We decided to commemorate the hill with the company's name and logo." To see more of the Globes or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.globes-online.com. Copyright (c) 2010, Globes, Tel Aviv, Israel Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For more information about the content services offered by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services (MCT), visit www.mctinfoservices.com, e-mail [email protected], or call 866-280-5210 (outside the United States, call +1 312-222-4544). |