JERUSALEM -- The first-ever biotechnology plant will be established in Israel’s southern city of Eilat to produce a new drug for AIDS disease, the Ministry of Economy said on Tuesday.
The drug, called "Gammora," was developed by the Israeli pharmaceutical company "Zion Medical" and has been successfully tested on humans.
During the stages of experiments, it became clear that it is also effective in the treatment of cancerous tumors.
The new drug eliminates the HIV virus-infected cells, as opposed to previous drugs which focused on eliminating the virus itself, and therefore faced the risk of viruses changing and developing resistance.
The Municipality of Eilat allocated an area for establishing a development center to complete the research and experiments, and for the future manufacturing plant.
A total of USD30 million will be invested in the development center, of which USD9 million will be allocated by the ministry.
The plant will cost another USD90 million.
Chinese company "Shenzhen International Institute of Biological Research" acquired the rights to manufacture and market the drug in China. (Xinhuanet)
