Galmed Pharmaceuticals Announces Strategic Partnership

Galmed Pharmaceuticals Forms Strategic Partnership with OnKai Galmed Pharmaceuticals Ltd (GLMD) announced that it has executed a definitive agreement for a USD 3 million equity investment in OnKai Inc, leading a USD 6 million investment round. The agreement provides Galmed with a strategic stake in OnKai, despite being a minority position. Simultaneously, a strategic partnership agreement is being signed to advance both companies by leveraging their complementary expertise and experience in their respective fields. OnKai, a US-based technology company, combines public health services and medical innovation experience with complex process digitalization, design thinking and software development to build an artificial intelligence-powered digital platform that facilitates health equity in underserved communities across the United States. The platform has significant potential value for both pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries by facilitating the participation of a new pool of potentially 80 million underserved patients in clinical trials. At its core, this collaboration empowers local clinics and healthcare professionals serving underserved communities to make meaningful contributions to clinical research. This enables pharmaceutical companies to meet their scientific and regulatory obligations, which require access to diverse and representative patient populations.   Galmed is strategically positioning itself for future clinical trials by leveraging OnKai's state-of-the-art platform. Through the platform, Galmed aims to overcome mounting competitive challenges in patient recruitment, improve the planning and execution of upcoming clinical trials, and deliver more efficient trials. Through this partnership, the companies aim to facilitate faster clinical trial enrollment and provide patients access to new medicines such as orphan drugs and opportunities to participate in clinical research that would otherwise be inaccessible as a therapeutic option. OnKai CEO Noam Smetana stated: "Galmed's investment serves as a catalyst to prepare OnKai to serve the pharmaceutical industry. We are fully committed to leveraging Galmed's experience and knowledge to best serve clinical trials together with underserved populations." Smetana continued: "OnKai's network and relationships with local clinics in underserved communities provide access to minority patients required for clinical trials. We view this as a win for patients because we are bringing innovative research and potential treatments to people who lack access while ensuring better representation of these populations in the drug development process." Allen Baharaff, Founder Partner, President and CEO of Galmed, noted: "The strategic business collaboration with OnKai aims to present Galmed with an opportunity that we view as a radically needed factor in the sector, and will enable us to be part of an area where we believe we can truly make a difference." Baharaff stated, "With OnKai technology, our vision is to build a multi-trial portfolio with various partners over time and simultaneously leverage the power of non-dilutive resources to create meaningful impact in disadvantaged communities." Baharaff added, "Opening the OnKai platform to Galmed enables it to forge closer relationships with foundations and patient advocacy organizations. This is impactful when combined with non-dilutive financing sources, which are intended to play a key role in pursuing orphan indications when combined with other resources. It is exciting to bring together innovations with a team that has decades of experience from local clinics, healthcare professionals, charities and pharmaceutical companies. We believe such an integration is essential to improve the quality and efficiency of drug development and clinical trials." Source