PETACH TIKVA, Israel, July 2, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- OphthaliX, Inc. (OTC BB: OPLI), is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Michael Belkin to the Company’s Board of Directors. Dr. Michael Belkin is a Professor of Ophthalmology at Tel Aviv University in Tel Aviv, Israel, and the Director of the Ophthalmic Technologies Laboratory at the university’s Eye Research Institute at the Sheba Medical Center. He was awarded a master’s degree in natural sciences by Cambridge University, England, and received a doctorate in medicine from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Dr. Belkin served previously as Director of Research, Development and Non-Conventional Warfare Medicine in the Israel Defense Forces Medical Corps. He was also the first full-time Director of the Tel Aviv University Eye Research Institute, Chairman of the Tel-Aviv University Department of Ophthalmology and the President of the Israel Society of Eye and Vision Research, of which he was one of the founders.

Dr. Belkin is an author of over 250 scientific publications and 20 patents. He is an internationally recognized eye researcher and has received various research awards. He is an entrepreneur and advisor of several ophthalmic companies in the fields of lasers, optics, ophthalmic devices, pharmaceutics and biotechnology. One of his ideas, the ExPRESS miniature glaucoma shunt, is currently used worldwide. Dr. Belkin is an active, long-standing, member of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO), the American Academy of Ophthalmology, the Biomedical Optics Society section of the International Society of Optical Engineering (SPIE), the American Glaucoma Society and many others. He serves as chairman and member of various international and local scientific and professional committees as well as scientific journals’ editorial boards.

About OphthaliX Inc.
OphthaliX Inc. is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing therapeutic products for the treatment of ophthalmic disorders. OphthaliX’s product candidate, CF101, is being developed to treat three ophthalmic indications: dry eye syndrome; glaucoma and uveitis.

About CF101
CF101, an A3 adenosine receptor agonist, is a novel, first in class, small molecule, orally bioavailable drug which demonstrated efficacy and an excellent safety profile in Phase 2 clinical studies. CF101 is currently developed for ophthalmic indications, including dry eye syndrome (Phase 3), glaucoma (Phase 2) and Uveitis. CF101 is also developed for the treatment of autoimmune inflammatory diseases including rheumatoid arthritis (Phase 2b) and psoriasis (Phase 2/3).

This release contains forward-looking statements regarding OphthaliX’s future plans and expected performance based on assumptions the Company believes to be reasonable. A number of risks and uncertainties could cause actual results to differ materially from these statements, including, without limitation, the success rate of business development efforts and the timeliness of development activities, and other risk factors described from time to time in the Company’s reports filed with the SEC. In addition, the Company operates in an industry sector where securities values are highly volatile and may be influenced by economic and other factors beyond the Company’s control. OphthaliX undertakes no obligation to publicly update these forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

SOURCE OpthaliX