- Novartis (NVS +0.2%) agrees to invest another $15M in Gamida Cell, a Jerusalem-based developer of stem cell therapies. The new investment, representing a 2.5% stake, will raise its total investment to $50M, or 17.5%. The deal could grow to $600M if Novartis exercises a buyout option that expires in 2016. It will invest an additional $10M if Gamida is successful in closing equity financing by the end of 2017.
- Gamida intends to use the funds to initiate a Phase 3 clinical trial evaluating NiCord in blood cancers in mid-2016.
- NiCord, an ex vivo expanded cell graft, is in development as an alternative to bone marrow transplant for patients who cannot find a donor with fully matched tissue. It utilizes the company's proprietary NAM platform technology to expand cells from umbilical cord blood.