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October 25, 2007

Protalix (AMEX:PLX) has Raised $50 million in Secondary Offering

Protalix Biotherapeutics Inc. (AMEX:PLX) has raised $50 million at a company value of $328 million in an offering of ten million shares at $5 per share.

Protalix was able to issue twice the number of shares originally planned, and has given the underwriters a green shoe option on 1.5 million more shares. Biocell Ltd. (TASE: BCEL), which owns 22% of the company, made no mention of an offer for sale in its notice to the TASE today. Most of Protalix’s original shareholders have made handsome profits on their investments, although most of their shares are still vested.

The company has a biosimilar product, which is undergoing Phase III clinical trials, intended for a niche market. The company also has a good platform for the development of more drugs, and management with a proven track record.

The offering is the largest exit by a biomedical company this year, and a fine achievement for the company from Kiryat Shmona that invented pioneering technology and survived all of northern Israel’s economic crises of the past decade and even a katyusha strike on its laboratory.

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