Governor Martin O'Malley Returns from Successful Israel Mission
Two Israeli companies announce plans for new Maryland offices; Largest Israeli Bioscience Pharmaceutical Company Maintains Commitment to Maryland; O'Malley Meets with Top Israeli Leaders and Companies
Baltimore, MD (June 2, 2008) – Governor Martin O’Malley returned today from a successful economic development mission to Israel, buoyed by the news that two leading Israeli companies plan to open offices in Maryland, and Israel’s largest bioscience company plans to continue its commitment to the State.
“We accomplished exactly what we set out to do on this mission to send a strong message to Israeli entrepreneurs and executives that Maryland is the premier location for Israeli life sciences and high tech companies,” said Governor O’Malley. “We are looking forward to welcoming two new Israeli companies to Maryland, and to the continued investment by Teva Pharmaceuticals in our biotech community.”
During the week-long mission, the Governor met with a number of high level Israeli business executives, including the CEOs of Teva Pharmaceuticals, BiolineRx and ClassifEye Ltd. As a result, Teva Pharmaceuticals affirmed its commitment to Maryland, and BiolineRx and ClassifEye announced that they will both be opening offices in Maryland as a foothold into the U.S. market. The Governor was accompanied on the mission by a delegation of Maryland business leaders, Jewish community leaders and economic development officials.
“Governor O’Malley led an impressive mission of Jewish community leaders, Maryland entrepreneurs, executives, and bioscience industry experts to expand Maryland's growing biotechnology sector. The Governor was key to the success of this mission, pointing out to them the world-class institutions headquartered in Maryland, such as Johns Hopkins, University of Maryland, NIH, NIST, FDA, NSA, and others. Governor O'Malley also demonstrated to leading bioscience companies in Israel that Maryland has the built-in infrastructure, workforce, research institutions and quality of life to help them build and expand successful businesses in Maryland,” said Abba D. Poliakoff, Chairman, Maryland/Israel Development Center.
Among the economic development highlights of the mission were Governor O’Malley’s meetings with Israeli executives with the goal of securing more foreign direct investment in Maryland.
- Teva Pharmaceuticals, Israel’s largest bioscience company and the largest manufacturer of generic drugs in the world, told the Governor it plans to keep its current operations in Maryland, which includes around 77 scientists and professionals working out of a state-of-the-art biotech facility in Rockville. The global company purchased biopharmaceutical company CoGenesys in January 2008 for $400 million.
- BiolineRx, one of Israel’s leading drug development companies, announced following a meeting with Governor O’Malley that is opening a U.S. office in Maryland and has already hired a local Vice President of Business Development to seek out potential opportunities. Founded in 2003, BiolineRx partners with researchers, universities and biotech companies to further the commercialization of promising drugs from early stage discovery and lead generation to advanced clinical trials, regulatory approval and marketing.
- ClassifEye, Ltd., an Israeli identity authentication solutions company, announced it was opening its U.S. headquarters in Montgomery County. Founded in 2003, ClassifEye has developed a unique, patent pending software-only solution that enables secure, highly reliable biometric (fingerprint) authentication utilizing the on-board camera of phones and other mobile devices. Maryland has invested $250,000 in the company, and Montgomery County has invested $75,000, part of an up to $2 million investment round led by Maryland-based early stage venture capital firm, Nobska Ventures.
Governor O’Malley also had a prominent role at the Israel Biomed 2008 Conference in Tel Aviv last week. The Governor delivered a speech titled “Commercialization through Collaboration,” during the U.S. Drug and Device Commercialization session moderated by Maryland resident Lynn Schapiro Snyder, head of Health Care and Life Sciences Practice of Epstein, Becker & Green. The session focused on U.S. market entry and regulatory compliance at Maryland-based federal agencies, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and FDA.
Governor O’Malley also met with a number of Israeli officials during the mission, including Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert; U.S. Ambassador Richard Jones; Benyamin Netanyahu, Chairman, Likud Party. The Governor also participated in a wreath laying ceremony at Yad Vashem, Israel’s national Holocaust memorial and took a day trip to Masada, the ancient site of Herod’s mountain palace where the Jewish community held out against a Roman siege.
[ View photos and summary of trip to Israel ]
