Shares of Pluristem Therapeutics Inc. (PSTI) are rising over 24% in pre-market today, after the company announced that the U.S. FDA has cleared the company's Investigational New Drug or IND application for a Phase II study of its PLX cells in the treatment of severe COVID-19 cases complicated by Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome or ARDS.

Shares of Pluristem Therapeutics Inc. (PSTI) are rising over 16% in pre-market today, after the company announced that the European Investment Bank has approved a ?50 million non-dilutive financing for the company.

Six critically ill coronavirus patients in Israel who were considered high-risk for mortality were treated with Pluristem and survived.

Global law firm Dentons has advised the Israeli biotech company Pluristem on a €50 million loan provided by the European Investment Bank (EIB). The financing is part of a cooperation agreement between the EIB and the Israel Innovation Authority, which aims to strengthen Israeli-EU cooperation in innovative research in the field of biotech, pharmaceutical research and public health.