Arix Bioscience plc Aura completes $40 million Series D financing
02 April 2019 - 5:09PM
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Arix Bioscience plc
Aura completes $40 million Series D financing
* Arix's total interest in Aura increases to GBP8.5 million from GBP3.9 million
* Arix commits $4.5million (GBP3.4 million[1]) to increase its stake to 7.7%
* Proceeds to be used to support late stage clinical development; Phase 3
trial expected to start in H1 2020
LONDON, 2 April 2019: Arix Bioscience plc ("Arix", LSE: ARIX) a global venture
capital company focused on investing and building breakthrough biotech
companies, today announces that it has committed $4.5 million (GBP3.4 million1)
to the $40 million (GBP31 million) Series D financing ("the financing") of Aura
Biosciences ("Aura"), a leader in the development of novel targeted therapies
in ocular oncology.
Following this commitment, Arix increases its stake to 7.7% on a fully diluted
basis. Arix Investment Director Mark Chin will continue to serve on the Aura
Board. The financing recognised a 33% uplift in the book value of Arix's Series
C investment in Aura, with Arix's total interest in Aura increasing to GBP8.5
million from GBP3.9 million on a fully committed basis.
Aura plans to use the proceeds from the Series D to support the late stage
clinical development of its lead asset, light-activated AU-011, for the
treatment of primary choroidal melanoma. The currently available treatments for
choroidal melanoma come with the risk of severe vision loss and other long-term
sequelae, especially for patients with melanomas located close to the fovea or
optic disk. The ongoing Phase 1b/2 study with light-activated AU-011 has shown
that the drug was well-tolerated, with clear evidence of tumor control and
preservation of visual acuity at long term follow up, even in high risk
patients. Aura has been granted Orphan Drug and Fast Track status from the U.S.
Food & Drug Administration (FDA) and expects to initiate a registration trial
in 2020.
Medicxi served as the lead new investor. In addition to Arix, Aura's existing
investors Lundbeckfonden Ventures, Advent Life Sciences, Chiesi Ventures, Ysios
Capital, Alexandria Venture Investments, Columbus Venture Partners, LI-COR
Biosciences and several individual investors, including the estate of Henri
Termeer, participated in the financing.
Joe Anderson, Chief Executive Officer of Arix, commented:
"Aura has made significant clinical progress with its lead candidate in
development for primary choroidal melanoma, a rare and aggressive eye cancer,
and is preparing for a Phase 3 study. We look forward to working alongside the
world class management team and new and existing investors to accelerate
development of this potential new treatment."
Elisabet de los Pinos, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of Aura, commented:
[1] All amounts shown are at an exchange rate of GBP 1.00 : USD 1.31
"The additional funding provided by this Series D financing enables Aura to
continue to execute on our goals of developing the first targeted treatment for
patients with primary choroidal melanoma, a life and vision threatening rare
disease with no drugs approved. We are delighted to have the continued support
from Arix, and our new and existing investors, as we enter this next stage of
growth for the Company."
ENDS
Enquiries
For more information on Arix, please contact:
Arix Bioscience plc
Charlotte Parry, Head of Investor Relations
+44 (0)20 7290 1072
charlotte@arixbioscience.com
Optimum Strategic Communications
Mary Clark, Supriya Mathur
T: +44 (0) 203 922 0891
optimum.arix@optimumcomms.com
About Arix Bioscience plc
Arix Bioscience plc is a global venture capital company focused on investing in
and building breakthrough biotech companies around cutting edge advances in
life sciences.
We collaborate with exceptional entrepreneurs and provide the capital,
expertise and global networks to help accelerate their ideas into important new
treatments for patients. As a listed company, we are able to bring this
exciting growth phase of our industry to a broader range of investors.
www.arixbioscience.com
About Aura Biosciences
Aura Biosciences is developing a new class of therapies to selectively target
and destroy cancer cells. Its lead program, AU-011 in primary choroidal
melanoma, is being developed under a CRADA with the National Cancer Institute
(NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health. For more information, visit
www.aurabiosciences.com.
About Choroidal Melanoma
Choroidal melanoma is a rare and aggressive type of eye cancer. Choroidal
melanoma is the most common primary intraocular tumor in adults and develops in
the uveal tract of the eye. No targeted therapies are available at present, and
current radiotherapy treatments can be associated with severe visual loss and
other long-term sequelae such as dry eye, glaucoma, cataracts and radiation
retinopathy. The most common current treatment is plaque radiotherapy, which
involves surgical placement of a radiation device on the exterior of the eye
over the tumor. The alternative is enucleation, or total surgical removal of
the eye. Choroidal melanoma metastasizes in approximately 50 percent of cases
with liver involvement in 80-90% of cases and, unfortunately, metastatic
disease is universally fatal (source: OMF). There is a very high unmet need for
a new vision sparing targeted therapy that could enable early treatment
intervention for this life-threatening rare disease given the lack of approved
therapies, and the comorbidities of radioactive treatment options.
About Light-Activated AU-011
AU-011 is a first-in-class targeted therapy in development for the primary
treatment of choroidal melanoma. The therapy consists of proprietary viral-like
particle bioconjugates (VPB) that are activated with an ophthalmic laser. The
VPBs bind selectively to unique receptors on cancer cells in the eye and are
derived from technology originally pioneered by Dr. John Schiller of the Center
for Cancer Research at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), recipient of the
2017 Lasker-DeBakey Award. Upon activation with an ophthalmic laser, the drug
rapidly and specifically disrupts the cell membrane of tumor cells while
sparing key eye structures, which may allow for the potential of preserving
patients' vision and reducing other long-term complications of radiation
treatment. AU-011 can be delivered using equipment commonly found in an
ophthalmologist's office and does not require a surgical procedure, pointing to
a potentially less invasive, more convenient therapy for patients and
physicians. AU-011 for the treatment of choroidal melanoma has been granted
orphan drug and fast track designations by the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration and is currently in clinical development.
END
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