Ortec indicates intent to acquire Hapto Biotech

By Angela McDaniels

Seattle, Dec. 15 - Ortec International Inc. said it has executed a non-binding letter of intent to acquire Hapto Biotech.

Under the proposed terms, Hapto shareholders would receive 30,860,000 of Ortec's common shares and an additional 3 million warrants to purchase Ortec's common shares at $0.35. These common shares and warrants would be subject to a selling restriction for 18 months.

In addition to the execution of a definitive agreement, this transaction is subject to having available a minimum of $6 million of capital, comprehensive due diligence and approval by Ortec's board of directors and Hapto's board of directors and shareholders.

"In anticipation of our receiving U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval during 2006 to begin marketing our lead product OrCel for the treatment of venous leg ulcers, we felt timing was appropriate to turn our attention to identifying growth opportunities for Ortec," vice chairman and chief executive officer of Ortec Ron Lipstein said in a company news release.

"Adding Hapto's cutting-edge technologies to Ortec's product and technology portfolio puts us squarely in the very exciting and growing field of stem cells and regenerative medicine."

The transaction is expected to close within 45 days, and Ortec has retained investment bank Rodman & Renshaw LLC as its advisor in this acquisition.

Ortec and Hapto formed a joint venture partnership in October 2004 to combine Ortec's collagen biomaterial technology and Hapto's Haptide peptide technology to develop non-cellular, biologically active, enhanced biomaterials to promote the attraction and attachment of cells for application to the wound healing, reconstructive, cosmetic, tissue regeneration and dental markets.

Preclinical studies with new hybrid biomaterials are yielding promising results, Ortec said.

Ortec is a biotechnology company based in New York that develops tissue-engineered therapeutic products.

Hapto is a privately-held company based in Jerusalem focused on the development of two proprietary fibrin-derived platform technologies: Fibrin Micro Beads and Fibrin based peptides, Haptides, which have demonstrated the ability to optimize the recovery, potential delivery and therapeutic value of adult stem cells, the company said.

© 2015 Prospect News.
All content on this website is protected by copyright law in the U.S. and elsewhere. For the use of the person downloading only.
Redistribution and copying are prohibited by law without written permission in advance from Prospect News.
Redistribution or copying includes e-mailing, printing multiple copies or any other form of reproduction.