CollPlant Raises NIS 3.7 M

CollPlant Holdings Ltd. (TASE: CLPT) has raised NIS 3.7 million (about $1 million) at a price of 23% above the minimum set due to surplus demand from institutions and the public at NIS 0.37 (about 0.10 Cent) per share with an issue that was 4.5 times oversubscribed.

Collplant produces human collagen, a protein vital for tissue repair, from genetically modified tobacco plants grown in greenhouses.

The technology behind CollPlant’s collagen was invented by the company’s co-founder Professor Oded Shoseyov, who transfered all five genes responsible for the production of the protein into a transgenic plant. Tobacco was perfect for this job because its genome is well known, it starts a new growing cycle every six weeks and it is not part of the food chain, so the genes cannot escape into the environment.

CollPlant is marketing its collagen as raw material to laboratories. The company is also developing products on its own, including a gel to accelerate healing diabetic ulcers.

Overall the company raised about $6 million this month in shares and also raised a further $18 million for the future in options.