TEL AVIV, Oct 19 (Reuters) – NovaQuest Capital Management reached a $20 million product financing agreement with Mileutis Ltd, an Israeli biopharmaceutical company, to help mitigate the use of antibiotics in animals.
NovaQuest’s investment will finance the development and commercialization of Mileutis’ biologically sourced therapies for animal health, the companies said on Monday.
This is NovaQuest’s first in the animal health care field and in an Israeli company.
Mileutis is in advanced stages of development of a product to treat and prevent bovine mastitis, the most frequent disease in dairy herds, which can impair milk-secreting tissues.
Antibiotics are the main therapy used in treating mastitis and are routinely administered once a year.
The company estimated potential annual revenue for its product Imilac at above $1 billion globally.
Mileutis is developing natural proteins based on research conducted at Israel’s Agricultural Research Organization and at the company.
North Carolina-based NovaQuest, which invests in life sciences and healthcare, manages over $2 billion. (Reporting by Tova Cohen Editing by Steven Scheer)