MediWound raises $30m. for clinical trial, production expansion
Israeli biopharmaceutical company MediWound Ltd., which has developed and sells a medical preparation for treating burns, has announced that it has raised $30 million. The fundraiser was at market price. Among the investors are New Era Capital Partners, Deep Insight, IBF and Discount Capital.
Over the past year, MediWound’s share price has fallen 51%, in line with a decline in the biomed sector in general. The company has a current market cap of $58m. Clal Biotechnology Industries (TASE: CBI) holds 33% of the company, and has a market cap of NIS 133m.
MediWound extracts a substance (bromelain) from the stem of a pineapple plant, which can remove burned skin without harming healthy tissue. This process is currently a surgical procedure. The company’s product has been sold in the European market for about a decade. The market for burn treatments for adults in Europe is fairly small, and in the first quarter, the company had a revenue of $4.7m.
MediWound is taking steps to increase its market, both in the burns category and through expansion into an additional field: treating wounds. In burns, it awaits marketing approval in the US, Japan and India, and also for extension of the existing indication for the product to burns in children, who represent 30% of the burn treatment market.
In wounds, the company is in the process of a Phase 2 trial in the US. The proceeds of its fundraiser will be used to finance a Phase 3 clinical trial and to expand the company’s production facility.
Ofer Gonen, who was the CEO of Clal Biotechnology, was recently appointed as CEO of MediWound. Following the announcement of the fundraiser, Gonen said, “We are making progress towards achieving our strategic goals, and we now have the cash to support all the company’s channels of activity: we are expanding our production capacity to support sales of NexoBrid (the burns product) around the world, and we shall be able to finance the continued development of EscharEX (the wounds treatment) independently.”
MediWound has said in the past that the good results of the Phase 2 trial of its wound treatment had aroused interest on the part of several strategic players. It is best, however, to approach such a deal from a strong financial position, and the company now has $40m in cash. (Globes/TNS)