Industry Update: Capital market and finances
Latest business developments compiled from April 01 — May 31, 2016.
Latest business developments in the field of stem cell research and
regenerative medicine compiled from publicly available information and
press releases from non-academic institutions from March 01 — 31 2016, scheduled to be published in Volume 11 Issue 6 of Regenerative Medicine.
BrainStorm
BrainStorm Cell Therapeutics (Israel; www.brainstorm-cell.com) announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Brainstorm Cell Therapeutics has been awarded a new grant of approximately $1.5 million from Israel’s Office of the Chief Scientist. This is the ninth year that BrainStorm has been in receipt of grant support from the Office of the Chief Scientist, which is part of the Ministry of Economy Program to support innovative technologies in Israel. The funds will support the development of NurOwnâ„¢, BrainStorm’s innovative mesenchymal stem cell-based platform for treating neurodegenerative diseases. NurOwn is currently being investigated in a Phase 2 clinical program in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Additional information about this clinical trial is available at http://clinicaltrials.gov (ID: NCT02017912).
OxStem
Newly spun out company from the Oxford University, OxStem (UK, www.oxstem.co.uk), has raised US$ 22.6 (£16.9) million to develop regenerative medicine for treatment of age-related diseases. It is the largest financing for any UK academic spin-out to date. The new spin-out from the prestigious Oxford University OxStem will design small molecule drugs that can program resident stem and stem-like cells in situ to treat currently untreatable age-related conditions. OxStem plans to reprogramme stem and stem-like progenitor cells that already exist in the body, bypassing the need for cell transplantation procedures. The company will tackle age-related diseases, such as dementia, heart failure, cancer and age-related macular degeneration. OxStem will fund the development of a series of daughter companies — each with a focus on a different large unmet therapeutic need. The first of these companies is OxStem Oncology, which will investigate the potential for intervening in therapy-resistant cancers. The team will focus initially on Acute Myeloid Leukaemia and Myelodysplastic Syndromes with a view to expanding to other conditions over time. Plans are well advanced for the subsequent launch of OxStem Cardio, OxStem Neuro and OxStem Ocular to apply the stem cell technology to developing therapies for cardiac failure, neurodegenerative diseases, and macular degeneration.