Arix Bioscience PLC (ARIX) Portfolio Company Imara Announces
Merger Agreement with Enliven Therapeutics 14-Oct-2022 / 07:00
GMT/BST Dissemination of a Regulatory Announcement, transmitted by
EQS Group. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this
announcement.
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Arix Bioscience plc
Portfolio Company Imara Announces Merger Agreement with Enliven
Therapeutics
Merger to create a Nasdaq-listed, clinical-stage
biopharmaceutical company focused on advancing Enliven's pipeline
of precision oncology product candidates
Transaction to concurrently raise approximately USD165 million
in a private financing co-led by new investors Fairmount and
Venrock Healthcare Capital Partners, with participation from
additional new investors
LONDON, 14 October 2022: Arix Bioscience plc (LSE: ARIX), a
global venture capital company focused on investing in breakthrough
biotechnology companies, notes that its portfolio company, Imara
Inc. ("Imara") (Nasdaq: IMRA), has entered into a definitive merger
agreement with Enliven Therapeutics, Inc. ("Enliven") to create a
Nasdaq-listed clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company in an
all-stock transaction. The combined company will focus on advancing
Enliven's pipeline of precision oncology product candidates. Upon
shareholder approval, the combined company is expected to operate
under the name Enliven Therapeutics, Inc. and trade on the Nasdaq
Global Select Market under the ticker symbol ELVN.
In support of the merger, Enliven also intends to raise
approximately USD165 million in a concurrent private financing
co-led by new investors Fairmount and Venrock Healthcare Capital
Partners, with participation from additional new investors, which
include Fidelity Management & Research Company, RA Capital
Management, Frazier Life Sciences and Commodore Capital. With the
cash expected from both companies at closing and the proceeds of
the planned concurrent financing, the combined company is currently
expected to have approximately USD300 million of cash and cash
equivalents at closing, after transaction expenses. The cash
resources are expected to be used to advance Enliven's pipeline
through multiple clinical milestones and provide runway into early
2026.
Robert Lyne, CEO of Arix Bioscience, stated: "The merger of
Enliven with Imara will bring a differentiated, clinical stage
pipeline of precision oncology assets to the public market. We are
pleased to note that with the proposed financing backed by a group
of top tier investors, the combined company will be well funded
with sufficient cash to achieve multiple clinical development
milestones into 2026."
[ENDS]
For more information on Arix, please contact:
Arix Bioscience plc
+44 (0)20 7290 1050
ir@arixbioscience.com
Powerscourt Group
Sarah MacLeod, Ibrahim Khalil, Nick Johnson
+44 (0)20 7250 1446
Notes to Editors
About Enliven Therapeutics, Inc.
Enliven Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical
company focused on the discovery and development of small molecule
inhibitors to help patients with cancer live not only longer, but
better. Enliven aims to address existing and emerging unmet needs
with a precision oncology approach that improves survival and
enhances overall patient well-being. Enliven's discovery process
combines deep insights from clinically validated biological targets
and differentiated chemistry to design potentially first-in-class
or best-in-class therapies. Enliven is based in Boulder,
Colorado.
About Enliven's Precision Oncology Portfolio
Enliven is a clinical-stage precision oncology company focused
on the discovery and development of potentially best-in-class or
first-in-class precision oncology therapies. Enliven's programs are
designed to address issues such as tolerability, combinability,
resistance and disease escape through brain metastases. Enliven is
advancing two parallel lead product candidates:
ELVN-001: Enliven's most advanced candidate, ELVN-001, is a
potent, highly selective, small molecule kinase inhibitor designed
to specifically target the BCR-ABL gene fusion, the oncogenic
driver for patients with CML. Although the approval of BCR-ABL TKIs
has improved the life expectancy of patients with CML
significantly, tolerability, safety, resistance and patient
convenience concerns have become more prominent as patients can now
expect to live on therapy for decades. These issues can result in
the loss of molecular response and disease progression for many
patients and drive approximately 20% of patients to switch therapy
within the first year and approximately 40% to switch in the first
5 years. Enliven's preclinical studies showed that ELVN-001 does
not meaningfully interfere with the activity of kinases that we
believe limit efficacy and tolerability of approved ATP-competitive
TKIs. Additionally, given ELVN-001's mechanism of action, it
potentially represents a complementary option to allosteric BCR-ABL
inhibitors, which may play an increasingly important role in the
standard of care. ELVN-001 was also designed to be efficacious
against the T315I mutation, the most common BCR-ABL mutation, which
confers resistance to nearly all approved TKIs. Importantly,
ELVN-001 was designed to be a more attractive option for patients
with comorbidities, on concomitant medications or desiring more
freedom from stringent administration requirements. ELVN-001 is
currently being evaluated in a Phase 1 clinical
trial in adults with CML. To learn more, please visit
www.clinicaltrials.gov (NCT05304377).
ELVN-002: Enliven's second product candidate, ELVN-002, is a
potent, selective and irreversible HER2 inhibitor with activity
against various HER2 mutations, including Exon 20 insertion
mutations (E20IMs) in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), for which
there are currently no approved small molecule inhibitors. ELVN-002
is designed to inhibit HER2 and key mutations of HER2, while
sparing wild-type EGFR and avoiding EGFR-related toxicities.
Enliven believes that if ELVN-002 achieves this profile, it will be
able to achieve an improved therapeutic index compared to current
approved and investigational TKIs as well as provide a meaningful
therapeutic option to patients with brain metastases, a key
mechanism of resistance to current therapies in patients with NSCLC
and other HER2 driven diseases. While the initial focus for this
program is for HER2 mutant NSCLC, Enliven intends to seek to expand
the opportunity to patients with other HER2 mutations as well as
HER2 amplified tumors including breast, colorectal, and gastric
cancers.
In addition to its two lead programs, Enliven is pursuing
several additional research stage opportunities that align with its
development approach. Enliven is in the process of screening and
optimizing the chemistry for multiple programs and expects to make
a product candidate nomination for its third program in the first
half of 2023.
About Arix Bioscience plc
Arix Bioscience plc is a global venture capital company focused
on investing in breakthrough biotechnology 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
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ISIN: GB00BD045071
Category Code: PFU
TIDM: ARIX
LEI Code: 213800OVT3AHQCXNIX43
OAM Categories: 3.1. Additional regulated information required to be disclosed under the laws of a Member State
Sequence No.: 194477
EQS News ID: 1463613
End of Announcement EQS News Service
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