Wall Street Transcript Interview with Ophir Shahaf, Chief Executive Officer of Hadasit Bio-Holdings Ltd. (HADSY)

67 WALL STREET, New York - September 20, 2012 - The Wall Street Transcript has just published its Biotechnology and Pharmaceuticals Report offering a timely review of the sector to serious investors and industry executives. This special feature contains expert industry commentary through in-depth interviews with public company CEOs, Equity Analysts and Money Managers. The full issue is available by calling (212) 952-7433 or via The Wall Street Transcript Online.

Topics covered: Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Valuations - Oncology Drug Development - Orphan Drugs - FDA Approval Process - Reimbursement Trends

Companies include: Hadasit Bio-Holdings Ltd. (HADSY) and many others.

In the following excerpt from the Biotechnology and Pharmaceuticals Report, the CEO of Hadasit Bio-Holdings discusses the outlook for his company for investors:

TWST: Please tell us about Hadasit Bio-Holdings.

Mr. Shahaf: Hadasit Bio-Holdings is a subsidiary of the Hadassah Hospital, which is one of the leading medical and scientific research institutes in Israel. It also operates two large hospitals in the city of Jerusalem and employs around 1,200 physicians and researchers. Some of them are very creative, very entrepreneurial, and we were set up with the mandate to commercialize the I.P. coming out of this extremely bright group of physicians. More than half of the translational research in Israel is conducted at Hadassah.

We went public on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange in 2006 as HDST, raised public funding in several rounds of financing and have been traded as an over-the-counter ADR since mid-2011 as HADSY. We currently have six portfolio companies on board and own a controlling interest in most of them.

We have a very hands-on approach to the management of these companies, which includes sitting on the board of all of them. Our goal is to move these companies forward into advanced clinical trials to the point where they become attractive to key strategic investors, financial investors or both.

TWST: These portfolio companies - Enlivex Therapeutics, Cell Cure, KAHR Medical, BioMarCare Technologies, ProtAb, Thrombotech - what does the market look like for these companies?

Mr. Shahaf: When we screen new technologies coming out of Hadassah, we look for new products and developments aimed at addressing an unmet need as in diseases with no effective or safe treatment. We will look for companies that target these unmet markets, companies that are close to a clinical trial and that can generate significant data in that clinical trial, so that we have a package which is powerful. Powerful in terms of the clinical data, in terms of regulatory status, in terms of business potential, so that we can approach prospective partners at a relatively early stage. There is no arguing that biotech investing is risky, and early-stage biotech even more so. Our model is one that does not take these drugs all the way to the market or even to an advanced Phase III. We don't have the resources for that, and that's not where our competitive advantage lies. We focus on the early clinical stages, where the most substantial value appreciation can be achieved.

Read the original:
Wall Street Transcript Interview with Ophir Shahaf, Chief Executive Officer of Hadasit Bio-Holdings Ltd. (HADSY)