Kadimastem Granted a Patent in the US for Treatment of Neurodegenerative Diseases

NESS ZIONA, Israel, March 16, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

Israeli biotechnology company Kadimastem (TASE: KDST), announced that it has been granted a patent from the United States Patent and Trademark Office for its technology in the field of cell based treatment for diseases of the nervous system. The United States patent joins additional patents granted in Israel and Europe.

The patent is for the innovative method of producing supporting cells in the central nervous system from stem cells, including myelin-producing cells, and it is the foundation for the company's products in the field treatment of neurodegenerative diseases.

The technology is the fruit of the research of Professor Michel Revel, the company's Chief Scientist, at the Weizmann Institute. The owner of the patent is Yeda Research and Development Company Ltd. According to an agreement between Kadimastem and Yeda, the company had been granted an exclusive license for exclusive use of the patent.

Kadimastem is developing innovative treatments for a number of severe diseases by transplanting cells and tissues differentiated from human stem cells. The patent expands the intellectual property coverage in the American market as part of the company's strategy in the neurodegenerative diseases field in general and ALS in particular.

Yossi Ben-Yossef, Kadimastem's CEO, noted: "With the company's preparations for the first clinical trial of its unique product, the reinforcement of the company's IP is particularly important. The United States is a target market for the company's products for several reasons, including regulatory (the company will conduct the trial according to the outline coordinated with the FDA), strategic collaborations, potential investors and market size. The patent granted in the United States is a substantial asset in each of these aspects."

Professor Michel Revel, the company's Chief Scientist, added: "The granting of the patent is an international recognition of the uniqueness of the technology at the basis of the cell based treatment for ALS, which Kadimastem develops toward the upcoming clinical trial. The patent also has applications in additional nervous system diseases, and it reinforces the company's position in the field."

About Kadimastem 

Kadimastem (http://www.kadimastem.com) is a biotechnology company that specializes in the development of human stem cell-based medical solutions for the treatment of diabetes and neurodegenerative diseases, such as ALS and Multiple Sclerosis. The company was founded in August 2009 by Professor Michel Revel and Yossi Ben Yosef, and is traded on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE: KDST). The company's chairman is Dr. Eli Opper, formerly the Chief Scientist of the Israeli Ministry of Industry, Labor and Trade. The company's investors, in addition to the founders, include Altshuler Shaham Investment House, foreign investors (Julien Ruggieri and Avi Meizler), and additional institutional investors.

Kadimastem was founded based on patent protected technology that was developed at the Weizmann Institute of Science. Based on the company's unique platform, Kadimastem is developing two types of medical applications: A. Regenerative medicine, which repairs and replaces organs and tissue by using functioning cells differentiated from stem cells. The company focuses on transplanting healthy brain cells to support the survivability of nerve cells as cell therapy for ALS, and transplanting insulin-secreting pancreatic cells for the treatment of insulin-dependent diabetes; B. Drug screening platforms, which use functional human cells and tissues to discover new medicinal drugs. The company has two collaboration agreements with leading global pharmaceutical companies.  

Kadimastem has an extensive scientific advisory board, featuring prominent scientists and pioneers: in the embryonic stem cells field, Professor Benjamin Reubinoff, Director of the Hadassah Human Embryonic Stem Cell Research Center and Senior Physician at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the Hadassah University Medical Center; Professor Joseph Itskovich, world renowned expert and pioneer in pluripotent stem cell research and former head of Obstetrics and Gynecology at RAMBAM Medical Center; in the neurodegenerative disease field, Professor Tamir Ben-Hur, Head of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Hadassah University Medical Center; and in the diabetes field, Professor Shimon Efrat, professor of Human Molecular Genetics and Juvenile Diabetes at Tel Aviv University and a world renowned expert in cell replacement therapy for diabetes and Professor Eddy Karnieli, former Director of the Institute for Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism at the RAMBAM Medical Center, and a world renowned expert in these fields.

Contact:
Kadimastem
Yehuda Feinberg
+972-73-7971600
[email protected]

SOURCE Kadimastem