The European Investment Bank will give Israel’s PluristemTherapeutics regenerative medicine company a €50 million venture debt loan toward advancing the clinical development of its cell therapies.

Pluristem uses cells derived from placentas for the development of potential treatments for infections, inflammation, ischemia, muscle injury and hematological disorders.

The company recently provided experimental-stage products used to treat several coronavirus patients in acute respiratory failure.

“Pluristem would like to thank the EIB for its financial support and its commitment to finding an effective treatment for life-threatening medical conditions, among them complications associated with Covid-19,” said Yaky Yanay, Pluristem’s CEO and president.

“Our company’s mission of harnessing the power of regenerative medicine to improve the wellbeing of an aging population has become more urgent than ever, as we work tirelessly to develop a treatment for Covid-19 complications while advancing our portfolio of products in advanced-stage trials to treat a number of indications that may positively impact on global healthcare systems,” he added.

The financing agreement was announced as the EIB and the Israel Innovation Authority signed a cooperation agreement to jointly pursue investment opportunities in bio-convergence – the integration of biology with engineering, artificial intelligence, physics, computation, nanotechnology and material science– to address unmet needs in health and other industries.

According to IIA Chairman Dr. Ami Appelbaum, “Israel views bio-convergence as its next economic growth engine … to find efficient, diverse and ingenious approaches to problem solving in numerous industries, including health, agriculture, energy and defense.”

“The collaboration between the European Investment Bank and the Israel Innovation Authority provides a unique opportunity to advance this area providing companies with various financing opportunities from early stage to growth.”