BioCancell Therapeutics Inc., a biopharmaceuticals corporation, has developed Patient-Oriented, Targeted Therapy for the treatment of numerous types of cancer. The treatment is based on utilizing the H19 gene, an important oncofetal gene, expressed at high levels in over 30 types of human cancer tissues, while existing at a nearly undetectable level in the surrounding normal tissues.

BioCancell was founded in 2004 by Professor Avraham Hochberg, Professor of Molecular Biology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel. Over the last 20 years of technology development, $10.5 million of non-diluting grants have been invested directly in research performed by Prof. Hochberg's laboratory, as well as $1.3 million in grants from the Office of the Chief Scientist of the Israeli Ministry of Industry, Trade and Labor. In addition, BioCancell has raised $13 million from private and public investors.

BioCancell's lead product, a plasmid designated BC-819, is comprised of the H19 gene regulatory sequences that drive the expression of Diphtheria Toxin A ("DT-A"). BC-819 embodies both a Personalized Medicine approach in that the patient populations will be identified by testing the tumors for H-19 expression and the Targeted Therapy approach in that the BC-819 enters all dividing cells but the DT-A expression is triggered by the presence of H19 transcription factors found only in tumor cells, thus effectively destroying the tumor without affecting normal cells.