Matricelf – Revolutionizing the Treatment of Spinal Cord Injury by using a Patient’s Own Cells to Create a Personalized Neural Tissue Implant
Gil Hakim
CEO
Matricelf Ltd
TASE: MTLF
Interview conducted by:
Lynn Fosse, Senior Editor
CEOCFO Magazine
Published – March 30, 2026
CEOCFO: Mr. Hakim, according to your website, “Matricelf is redefining personalized regenerative medicine.” Would you tell us how?
Mr. Hakim: Yes, of course. When we say “redefining,” we mean shifting regenerative medicine from generic solutions to truly personalized tissue engineered from the patient’s own cells. Instead of using donor cells or off the shelf materials, we use the patient’s own cells to create a personalized neural tissue implant. That changes everything, because the treatment is inherently tailored to the individual. In spinal cord injury, we are essentially creating a piece of neural tissue designed specifically for that patient, with the goal of repairing the damaged tissue and restoring lost function. In simple terms, we are not just managing the function that remains after the injury, we are aiming to restore what was once thought to be permanently lost.
CEOCFO: What led you in the direction of spinal cord injury?
Mr. Hakim: It is really the combination of medical need and impact. Spinal cord injury is one of the most devastating conditions, and despite decades of research, there is still no cure.
The trauma often happens relatively early in life, around an average age of 44, which means patients can live decades with paralysis and supportive care, but without a solution. The burden is enormous, both personally and economically, with costs in the U.S. alone reaching about $30 billion annually.
For us, it was clear. If you want to make a real impact, this is exactly the kind of indication to go after.
CEOCFO: What is your approach and how does it work?
Mr. Hakim: At a high level, we are developing a personalized neural implant. We start with a blood sample and a small sample of the patient’s omentum tissue. From there, we use genetic and tissue engineering methods to essentially recreate spinal cord like tissue. Most approaches today focus on drugs, stimulation, or devices, whereas we are attempting to replace the damaged tissue itself.
It is a process that takes about 6 months, and what we end up with is an implant made of very small, 3D sphere like structures, about 1 mm in diameter. Because of that structure, we can tailor the implant to match the exact size and shape of the injury.
Then, during surgery, a neurosurgeon implants these structures directly into the lesion site. Since everything is made from the patient’s own cells, the expectation is that the tissue integrates more naturally. Our goal is to create a biological bridge across the injury and support the restoration of function.
CEOCFO: What is going on during the six months that it takes from start to finish?
Mr. Hakim: A lot is happening behind the scenes. In a way, the patient provides the source material for their own repair. We use the patient’s own cells to create the neural tissue needed to repair the injury.
We start by taking cells from the patient’s blood and reprogramming them into induced pluripotent stem cells, or iPS cells. This is a well established field, recognized by the Nobel Prize awarded to Professor Shinya Yamanaka.
In parallel, we take the omentum tissue and through proprietary process turn it into a gel that becomes the extracellular matrix. Every tissue in the body is essentially built from two components, the cells and the matrix that supports them. From there, we guide the cells into becoming neural cells and combine them with the matrix to form the implant. That entire process, from reprogramming to building functional tissue, is what takes those 6 months.
CEOCFO: Where are you today in the development process?
Mr. Hakim: We are in the final stages of our preclinical program, where we have already demonstrated safety and efficacy using FDA accepted methods and models. The next major step is our first in human trial, which we are planning for 2027.
That is a very important milestone for us. For the first time, we will be able to treat a patient with a functional neural tissue implant, and while clinical outcomes must be validated step by step, we hope to start seeing meaningful restoration of function within months.
CEOCFO: Is anyone with a spinal injury a potential candidate?
Mr. Hakim: Not all patients, at least not initially. Spinal cord injuries are classified as complete or incomplete. In a complete injury, there is no motor or sensory function below the injury. We are focusing on those complete cases first, which represent about 30% of patients, because that is where the unmet need is highest.
We are also targeting chronic patients, meaning at least 1 year after injury, where the condition has stabilized and there has been no meaningful recovery. These patients typically carry the highest long term burden, both medically and economically.
CEOCFO: You have a history in life sciences; what have you learned from past experiences that is helping with Metricelf?
Mr. Hakim: I have always been drawn to areas where there is a real unmet need, where patients have no cure and very few options.
Before joining Matricelf, I served as CEO and later President of UroGen Pharma, where wI followed a similar philosophy. We started with a relatively small patient population, only a few thousand patients, but one with a very high unmet medical and economic need. We also had a platform technology that we specifically adapted to address that indication.
What attracted me to Matricelf was a very similar dynamic. Spinal cord injury is also a relatively focused market, with a few hundred thousand patients in the U.S., yet the human and economic burden is enormous. The difference is that Matricelf is not simply developing another treatment. It is building an entirely new therapeutic platform in regenerative medicine, and when you combine that with such a profound unmet need, it becomes especially compelling.
CEOCFO: Is there any potential downside that you have seen so far?
Mr. Hakim: The main challenge is that this is a field where many have tried and failed. There is still no cure for spinal cord injury despite decades of work. When you are doing something truly new, you carry both the opportunity and the responsibility. You need to show not only that it works, but why it has a better chance of working than previous approaches. So the uniqueness is both the strength and the challenge.
CEOCFO: Is the medical community or the people who are aware of what you are doing, excited?
Mr. Hakim: Yes, and that has been very encouraging. We have engaged leading neurosurgeons from the U.S. and Israel, people who have seen many different approaches over the years.
The fact that they chose to work with us and participate in the study is very meaningful. When experienced clinicians show that level of interest and engagement, it gives you confidence that you are working on something truly differentiated.
CEOCFO: What about the investment community?, There are certain areas that are more in favor with investors at different times; what is the feeling in the investment community towards what you are doing?
Mr. Hakim: Today, we are publicly traded on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange following our 2021 IPO, and we have raised about $25 million so far. Our investor base includes public investors, smaller VCs, and high net worth individuals.
We are now preparing for a Nasdaq dual listing in 2026, which we believe will significantly increase visibility and access to capital. This combination of clinical transition and market expansion rarely happens at the same time.
In biotech, investors tend to be very stage driven. Many prefer to wait for clinical data, even though the biggest upside is often before that stage. I saw the same at UroGen, where larger institutional investors came in once we had clinical progress and the company eventually reached over $1 billion in market value.
I expect a similar path here, especially as we enter the clinic.
CEOCFO: Are there other indications that you are looking to in the future?
Mr. Hakim: Absolutely. The platform is not limited to spinal cord injury. We recently announced a spin off focused on Parkinson’s disease, where the goal is to develop personalized brain tissue with dopaminergic neurons.
We also see potential in traumatic brain injury and stroke. More broadly, our vision is that wherever tissue is damaged, it may be possible to replace it with new tissue derived from the patient’s own cells.
CEOCFO: With so many companies to look at, particularly in the health community, why pay attention to Matricelf?
Mr. Hakim: I think it comes down to two things, the science and the timing.
On the scientific side, we are not developing another incremental solution. We are building a personalized, autologous tissue platform that aims to directly address the injury.
On the financial side, we believe there is a window of opportunity. Today we are listed on TASE, where visibility is more limited compared to Nasdaq. As we move toward a Nasdaq listing and enter the clinical stage, we see a clear potential inflection point.
So for those looking at the space, Matricelf is not just another company, it is a platform at an inflection point, scientifically and financially.
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