Gamida Cell Ltd. announced recently that the company has raised $16 Million in a Preferred D financing round led by Israel Healthcare Ventures (IHCV). Current shareholders Elscint Biomedical Investment, Denali Ventures, Biomedical Investments and TEVA Pharmaceuticals also participated.

The capital will support three major initiatives: the expansion of Gamida Cell’s tissue regeneration product pipeline, including the cardiac regeneration product, now at the advanced pre-clinical stage of development; the planned clinical testing of the company’s flagship product StemEx^® for indications, other than hematological diseases, where the current protocol is also bone marrow transplantation; and, the ongoing pre-clinical development of products, based on Gamida Cell’s proprietary expansion technologies, for conditions such as neurological disorders and peripheral vascular disease.

“Gamida Cell has a superior technology platform and a promising line of stem cell products. The clinical results of the Phase I/II study of StemEx as a treatment for leukemia and lymphoma were extremely favorable. We plan to begin a global, pivotal study of StemEx in the very near future to demonstrate the efficacy of the product. Assuming smooth sailing, we plan to bring it to market in 2009 in partnership with TEVA,” said Dr. Yael Margolin, Gamida Cell president and CEO.

Gamida Cell also announced today the reorganization of its Board of Directors. Biomedical Investments’ Mr. Ruben Krupik will serve as the company’s chairman of the board. Other board members include Mr. Mordechai Zisser, president and chairman of the board of Elscint Biomedical Investment, Dr. Hadar Ron, managing partner of IHCV, Mr. Noam Karstaedt, president of Denali Ventures and Dr. Yael Margolin, Gamida Cell president and CEO.

“Gamida Cell is likely to become the first company to introduce an allogeneic stem cell product into the market. Indeed they are true industry leaders. The credit for the immense progress over the last few years is due, in large part, to the company’s strong, experienced, and competent management team led by Dr. Margolin. We believe financially supporting Gamida Cell’s further progress is a sound investment decision. It is an exciting time and we are delighted to be contributing to Gamida Cell’s advancement as it nears various crossroads,” said Dr. Ron.