Elbit Medical Technologies Ltd. (TASE:EMTC) today announced that subsidiary Gamida Cell Ltd. has begun a clinical trial of its NiCord product for the treatment of blood cancer.
Elbit Medical's share price rose 13.9% today to NIS 0.041, giving a market cap of NIS 322 million. The share price of parent company Elbit Imaging Ltd. (Nasdaq: EMITF; TASE: EMIT) fell 2.5% on the TASE to NIS 44.98, and fell 3.2% at the opening on Nasdaq to $12.60, giving a market cap of $321 million.
Gamida Cell is already conducting a Phase III clinical trial of its StemEx product for the treatment of blood cancer. Both StemEx and NiCord are based on umbilical cord blood, but use different technologies.
StemEx is being jointly developed with Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (Nasdaq: TEVA; TASE: TEVA), which will probably distribute the product if it reaches market. Gamida Cell is developing NiCord independently, and the company does not yet have any development or marketing agreements with other companies.
This is the first trial of NiCord, designed to test the product's safety. 15 patients are enrolled in the trial at Duke University in North Carolina.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on January 10, 2011
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