BioWorld International Correspondent

TEL AVIV, Israel - Clal Biotechnology Industries Ltd. (CBI), a Clal Industries and Investments Ltd. subsidiary established in 1998, is branching into investments in biotechnology start-ups and is establishing a research center called Clal Biotechnology Laboratories (CBL) to nurture long-term growth.

The first two young companies to be located in the new laboratory center, MediWound Ltd. and CureTech Ltd., were selected.

"They will enjoy the administrative services, equipment and advanced infrastructure available in the new facility, which will also serve a limited number of CBI's portfolio companies that are approaching clinical trials," CBI CEO David Haselkorn said. "These start-ups are both close to entering clinical trials."

CBI said Monday that construction of a 1,700-square-meter facility for CBL has begun in the Yavne Industrial Zone, and is expected to be completed by the end of the year.

"The first-year establishment and operational costs for CBL are circa $3 million," said Ophir Shahaf, CBI's vice president of business development.

"CBL was designed to incorporate state-of-the-art research and development laboratories around a central core area, including a GMP facility that will be shared by the portfolio companies," Haselkorn said. "We have selected an administrative team of managers, scientists and support staff with particular experience in the biotechnology industry, to support not only R&D and clinical development, but also to provide strategic planning and management of business development, professional information dissemination, media relations, and manufacturing."

Leon Recanati, chairman of Clal Industries and Investments, said, "The setting up of CBL provides a solution to a need in Israel: most of the new R&D activity here is being undertaken by young companies which require not only external financing, but also guidance in a wide variety of daily administrative and long-range management activities."

Haselkorn added, "As the leading investor in Israel in the field of life sciences, we could not ignore the lost promise, due to mismanagement and inability to meet infrastructure needs. We felt obliged to assist in the growth of the industry by investing in the physical plant and by active intervention in management from the earliest stages."

Haselkorn contrasted the CBL model with that developed by Jerusalem Global in its Innovation Centers (for medical devices), and the private incubator of Max Herzberg's Eager-BioGroup in Ashdod, which is based on a "clustering" approach focusing on specialized areas. He also noted that the Monitor Report showed the biotech deficits in the 23 government-run incubators of the National Technology Incubator Program under the Office of the Chief Scientist of the Ministry of Industry & Trade.

CBI owns 80 percent of MediWound and 42 percent of CureTech after investing about $3 million in each.

MediWound is developing a platform product for the initial treatment of burns, especially severe ones. The preparation is based on a combination of naturally sourced enzymes that selectively and efficiently degrade necrotic tissue over several hours without harming healthy cells.

MediWound's debridement system, developed by Lior Rosenberg of the Soroka Medical Center in Beer-Sheva, Israel, was applied to nearly 300 patients who showed enhanced recovery and reduced scarring relative to the usual mechanical debridement.

CureTech, the other start-up, was established on technology developed by immunologists Britta Hardy and Abraham Novogrodsky to create an immunotherapy, primarily against cancer. The company's lead product, BAT, a monoclonal antibody that acts in synergy with tumor cells, exhibits previously undescribed immune stimulatory and antitumor properties. The anticancer effect of BAT was tested preclinically and shown to effectively treat various types of cancerous growths. BAT is expected to enter Phase I clinical trials during 2002.

"We continue to seek out additional companies suited to working within the CBL framework," Haselkorn said.