UNITED
STATES
SECURITIES
AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington,
D.C. 20549
Form
6-K
Report
of Foreign Private Issuer
Pursuant
to Rule 13a-16 or 15d-16
of
the Securities Exchange Act of 1934
For
March
20, 2008
Commission
File Number: 000-51310
XTL
Biopharmaceuticals Ltd.
(Translation
of registrant's name into English)
711
Executive Blvd., Suite Q
Valley
Cottage, New York 10989
(Address
of principal executive offices)
Indicate
by check mark whether the registrant files or will file annual reports under
cover Form 20-F or Form 40-F.
| Form 20-F x | Form 40-F o |
Indicate
by check mark if the registrant is submitting the Form 6-K in paper as permitted
by Regulation S-T Rule 101(b)(1): ____
Indicate
by check mark if the registrant is submitting the Form 6-K in paper as permitted
by Regulation S-T Rule 101(b)(7): ____
Indicate
by check mark whether by furnishing the information contained in this Form,
the
registrant is also thereby furnishing the information to the Commission pursuant
to Rule 12g3-2(b) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.
| Yes o | No x |
If
“Yes”
is marked, indicate below the file number assigned to the registrant in
connection with Rule 12g3-2(b): 82-
N/A
Incorporation
by Reference: This Form 6-K of XTL Biopharmaceuticals Ltd. dated March
20, 2008
is hereby incorporated by reference into the registration statements on
Form F-3
(File No. 333-141529 and File No. 333-147024) filed by XTL Biopharmaceuticals
Ltd. with the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 23, 2007 and
October
30, 2007, respectively and
the registration statements on Form S-8 (File No. 333-148058 and File No.
333-148574) filed by XTL Biopharmaceuticals Ltd. with the Securities and
Exchange Commission on December 14, 2007 and January 18, 2008,
respectively.
XTL
Biopharmaceuticals Signs $108 Million Deal for the Licensing of its Pre-Clinical
Program in Hepatitis C to Presidio Pharmaceuticals
Valley
Cottage, NY, March 20, 2008 - XTL Biopharmaceuticals Ltd. (NASDAQ: XTLB,
TASE:
XTL) announced the licensing of its pre-clinical program in Hepatitis C focused
on the NS5A target (the “Program”) to San-Francisco based Presidio
Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Presidio is a private biotechnology company focused
on the
development and commercialization of anti-viral therapeutics and is backed
by
some of the most prominent investors in the biotechnology sector, including
Panorama Capital, Bay City Capital, Baker Brothers Investments, and Ventures
West. Presidio’s scientific team is headed by Dr. Richard Colonno, who until
recently was Vice President of Infectious Disease Drug Discovery at
Bristol-Myers Squibb, where he was responsible for Bristol-Myers Squibb’s
antiviral drug discovery efforts, including their Hepatitis C and B and HIV
programs.
Under
the
license agreement, Presidio becomes responsible for all further development
and
commercialization activities and costs relating to the Program. XTL will
receive
an upfront payment of $4 million, and up to an additional $104 million upon
reaching certain development and commercialization milestones. In addition,
XTL
will receive a royalty on direct product sales by Presidio, and a percentage
of
Presidio’s income if the Program is sublicensed by Presidio to a third party.
Ram
Waisbourd, Vice President of Business Development of XTL, commented: “We have
great confidence in Presidio’s ability to move the Program forward rapidly. We
believe that Presidio has a dynamic and experienced management team, and
a solid
scientific team headed by Dr. Richard Colonno - who was a major contributor
to
the discovery and advancement of several antiviral drug candidates into clinical
trials, two of which, atazanavir for HIV, and entecavir for Hepatitis B,
are
currently approved drugs.”
Ron
Bentsur, XTL’s CEO commented: “We are excited about this licensing transaction
with a motivated and capable partner such as Presidio. This transaction allows
us to solidify our financial position by bringing in $4 million dollars in
cash
and eliminating the ongoing development expense of the Program, while preserving
a significant share in the Program’s future success. We believe that this
transaction extends our financial resources well into Q1 2009, and provides
us
with a financial cushion as we head towards the completion and announcement
of
results from the Bicifadine Phase 2b study, expected in Q4 2008.”
The
Program focuses on the development of novel small molecule inhibitors against
the Hepatitis C virus, and is presently in advanced stages of lead optimization.
The current lead compounds target NS5A - a viral protein that is essential
for
viral production. NS5A is distinct from the protease and polymerase. The
Program’s lead compounds are highly potent inhibitors of viral replication in
the replicon assay, which is known to have good correlation with clinical
efficacy and is currently the leading method for preclinical testing of
inhibitors of the Hepatitis C Virus.
ABOUT
XTL BIOPHARMACEUTICALS LTD.
XTL
Biopharmaceuticals Ltd. (“XTL”) is engaged in the development of therapeutics
for the treatment of diabetic neuropathic pain and HCV. XTL is developing
Bicifadine, a serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor, for the treatment
of diabetic neuropathic pain, which is currently in a Phase 2b study. XTL
has
out-licensed its novel pre-clinical HCV small molecule inhibitor program.
XTL
also has an active in-licensing and acquisition program designed to identify
and
acquire additional drug candidates. XTL is publicly traded on the NASDAQ
and
Tel-Aviv Stock Exchanges (NASDAQ: XTLB; TASE: XTL).
Contact:
Ron
Bentsur, Chief Executive Officer
Tel:
+1-(845)-267-0707 ext. 225
ABOUT
PRESIDIO
Presidio
Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a specialty pharmaceutical company focused on the
discovery, in-licensing, development and commercialization of novel therapeutics
for viral infections, including HIV and HCV. Presidio has raised over $27
million in financing from Panorama Capital, Baker Brothers Investments, Bay
City
Capital, Ventures West, Nexus Medical Partners, and Sagamore Bioventures.
For
more information, please visit our website at www.presidiopharma.com.
Contact:
Omar
K.
Haffar, Ph.D.
President
and Chief Executive Officer
omar@presidiopharma.com
415-655-7561
Cautionary
Statement
Some
of the statements included in this press release, particularly those
anticipating future financial performance, clinical and business prospects
for
our clinical compound for neuropathic pain, Bicifadine, and for our pre-clinical
compounds for hepatitis C from our XTL-DOS program, growth and operating
strategies and similar matters, may be forward-looking statements that involve
a
number of risks and uncertainties. For those statements, we claim the protection
of the safe harbor for forward-looking statements contained in the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Among the factors that could cause
our
actual results to differ materially is our ability to complete in a timely
and
cost effective manner clinical trials on Bicifadine, which could directly
impact
our ability to continue to fund our operations; our ability to meet anticipated
development timelines for all of our drug candidates due to recruitment,
clinical trial results, manufacturing capabilities or other factors; the
success
of our drug development and marketing arrangements with third
parties; and
other risk factors identified from time to time in our reports filed with
the
Securities and Exchange Commission, including our annual report on Form 20-F
filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 23, 2007. Any
forward-looking statements set forth in this press release speak only as
of the
date of this press release. We do not intend to update any of these
forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances that occur
after
the date hereof. This press release and prior releases are available at
http://www.xtlbio.com. The information in our website is not incorporated
by
reference into this press release and is included as an inactive textual
reference only.
SIGNATURES
Pursuant
to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, the
registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the
undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.
| XTL BIOPHARMACEUTICALS LTD. | ||
| |
|
|
| Date: March 20, 2008 | By: | /s/ Ron Bentsur |
|
Ron Bentsur |
||
|
Chief
Executive Officer
|
||