BioLineRx and MaRS Innovation Sign Framework Collaboration Agreement

TEL AVIV, Israel, May 16, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- BioLineRx Ltd. (NASDAQ/TASE: BLRX), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company dedicated to identifying, in-licensing and developing promising therapeutic candidates, announced today that it has signed a framework collaboration agreement with MaRS Innovation,  the commercialization agent for fifteen of Toronto's top academic institutions. Under the terms of the agreement, BioLineRx intends to review innovative projects and assets of startup companies originating from MaRS Innovation's members, in order to identify in-licensing, co-development or other partnering opportunities.

Kinneret Savitsky, Ph.D., CEO of BioLineRx, said, "We are pleased to collaborate with MaRS Innovation, one of the largest technology transfer organizations in North America.  MaRS Innovation represents and invests in early stage assets derived from 15 institutions in Ontario, Canada, including the University of Toronto and its 9 affiliated teaching hospitals. We view them as a valuable source of potential innovative technologies and look forward to working together towards the development of future therapies."

"BioLineRx has a proven track record of identifying promising early stage biomedical projects and successfully developing them through clinical stages," stated Dr. Raphael Hofstein, President and CEO, MaRS Innovation. "We believe that the combination of our pool of novel technologies and projects together with BioLineRx's drug development expertise and strategic collaborations with global players is a perfect match."

About MaRS Innovation
MaRS Innovation (MI) is the commercialization agent for 15 of Ontario's leading academic institutions. It provides investors and licensees with a single point to access the technology assets emerging from MI's members, who receive $1.4 billion in annual research and development funding. Supported by the Government of Canada through the Networks of Centres of Excellence, by the Government of Ontario through the Ontario Centres of Excellence, and by its members, MI is a transformational partnership that turns research strengths into commercial opportunities through industry partnerships, licensing and company creation. Learn more at www.marsinnovation.com or follow us on Twitter @marsinnovation.

About BioLineRx
BioLineRx is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company dedicated to identifying, in-licensing and developing promising therapeutic candidates. The Company in-licenses novel compounds, primarily from academic institutions and biotech companies based in Israel, develops them through pre-clinical and/or clinical stages, and then partners with pharmaceutical companies for advanced clinical development and/or commercialization.

BioLineRx's leading therapeutic candidates are: BL-8040, a cancer therapy platform, which has successfully completed a Phase 2 study for relapsed/refractory AML, is in the midst of a Phase 2b study as an AML consolidation treatment and a Phase 1/2 study in hMDS and AA, and has successfully completed a Phase 1 study in stem cell mobilization; and BL-7010 for celiac disease and gluten sensitivity, which has successfully completed a Phase 1/2 study. In addition, BioLineRx has a strategic collaboration with Novartis for the co-development of selected Israeli-sourced novel drug candidates, and has recently signed a collaboration agreement with MSD (known as Merck in the US and Canada) to run a Phase 2 study in pancreatic cancer using the combination of BL-8040 and Merck's KEYTRUDA^®.

For additional information on BioLineRx, please visit the Company's website at www.biolinerx.com, where you can review the Company's SEC filings, press releases, announcements and events. BioLineRx industry updates are also regularly updated on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

Various statements in this release concerning BioLineRx's future expectations constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements include words such as "may," "expects," "anticipates," "believes," and "intends," and describe opinions about future events. These forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of BioLineRx to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Some of these risks are: changes in relationships with collaborators; the impact of competitive products and technological changes; risks relating to the development of new products; and the ability to implement technological improvements. These and other factors are more fully discussed in the "Risk Factors" section of BioLineRx's most recent annual report on Form 20-F filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 10, 2016. In addition, any forward-looking statements represent BioLineRx's views only as of the date of this release and should not be relied upon as representing its views as of any subsequent date. BioLineRx does not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking statements unless required by law.

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SOURCE BioLineRx

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