CollPlant Publishes Letter to Shareholders
PR Newswire PR Newswire•December 19, 2019
REHOVOT, Israel, Dec. 19, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- CollPlant (NASDAQ: CLGN), a regenerative medicine company, today announced that Yehiel Tal, Chief Executive Officer of CollPlant Biotechnologies, has issued a Letter to Shareholders, the full text of which follows below.
3D bioprinted trachea using CollPlant’s BioInk. Courtesy of United Therapeutics and 3D systems
3D bioprinted trachea using CollPlant’s BioInk. Courtesy of United Therapeutics and 3D systems
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Dear Fellow Shareholders,
CollPlant advanced in many directions during the past year, and I want to keep you apprised of our progress. This letter is meant to provide you with more information on topics that generally fall outside of our formal quarterly financial and business updates.
First, our R&D team continued moving forward aggressively across all our major programs. We are developing formulations comprised of rhCollagen and hyaluronic acid for dermal filler products used in the medical aesthetics market. In parallel, CollPlant is also advancing our collaboration with a leading company in this field. Within 3D bioprinting, we are developing rhCollagen-based BioInks for 3D printed lung scaffolds in collaboration with United Therapeutics. We are also advancing collaborations with other companies to develop 3D bioprinted tissues and scaffolds for regenerative medicine applications. Furthermore, our proprietary rhCollagen-based regenerative breast implants program has accelerated, and we are planning to launch an animal study in Q1 2020.
Second, our scientific, management, sales, marketing, and administrative teams are excited to now be under one roof at our new headquarters in Rehovot, Israel, which houses our state-of-the-art R&D labs for development of our 3D bioprinting technologies and medical aesthetics pipeline.
Third, we have successfully transferred our collagen purification processing from an outside contractor to a self-managed GMP facility located near our Rehovot HQ. Combined with some successful upstream process improvements, this has allowed us to capture significantly higher rhCollagen production yield, reduced costs, and improved gross margins on sales.
Fourth, we continuously expand and improve our upstream tobacco planting and extraction operations in Yessod, Israel. The operations team there is laser focused on expanding output, delivering higher per-ton yields, while maintaining consistent and high-quality product.
Altogether, this is an exciting time at CollPlant. There is much to be proud of, and yet much more to do. We believe we have the elements to become THE BREAKOUT COMPANY IN THE BIOPRINTNG SPACE. I look forward to providing you with further updates, and we welcome any questions you may have.
I would like to take this opportunity to wish you and your families Happy New Year and Happy Hanukkah.
Respectfully,
Yehiel Tal
Chief Executive Officer
CollPlant Biotechnologies
About CollPlant
CollPlant is a regenerative medicine company focused on 3D bioprinting of tissues and organs, and medical aesthetics. Our products are based on our rhCollagen (recombinant human collagen) that is produced with CollPlant's proprietary plant based genetic engineering technology.
Our products address indications for the diverse fields of organ and tissue repair, and are ushering in a new era in regenerative medicine. Our flagship rhCollagen BioInk product line is ideal for 3D bioprinting of tissues and organs. In October 2018, we entered into a licensing agreement with United Therapeutics, whereby United Therapeutics is using CollPlant's BioInks in the manufacture of 3D bioprinted lungs for transplant in humans.
