Arix Bioscience Plc Arix participates in $67m financing for Amplyx (8219M)
August 02 2017 - 2:01AM
UK Regulatory
TIDMARIX
RNS Number : 8219M
Arix Bioscience Plc
02 August 2017
Arix Bioscience participates in $67 million Series C financing
for Amplyx Pharmaceuticals
Series C financing to fund Phase II clinical trials of APX001, a
novel antifungal agent to treat life-threatening invasive
infections
LONDON, 2 August, 2017: Arix Bioscience plc (LSE: ARIX) ("Arix
Bioscience" or "Arix"), a global healthcare and life science
company supporting medical innovation, today announces that it has
acquired an interest in Amplyx Pharmaceuticals ("Amplyx") as part
of an oversubscribed $67 million Series C financing round. San
Diego-based Amplyx is focused on developing novel, broad-spectrum
antifungal agents for the treatment of life-threatening fungal
infections.
Arix Bioscience participated alongside new investors Sofinnova
Venture Partners, which led the round, Lundbeckfonden Ventures and
Pappas Ventures, as well as existing investors New Enterprise
Associates, RiverVest Venture Partners, 3x5 RiverVest II, and
BioMed Ventures. Mark Chin of Arix Bioscience will join Amplyx's
Board as an Observer.
Proceeds of the financing will be used to advance the
development of Amplyx's lead candidate APX001 into Phase II
clinical trials for the treatment of invasive candidiasis,
aspergillosis, and rare molds, including Fusarium, Scedosporium,
and fungi from the Mucorales order.
APX001 has demonstrated broad-spectrum activity against
infections caused by common species of Candida and Aspergillus,
including species that are intrinsically resistant to existing
antifungal drugs, as well as activity against rare, hard-to-treat
molds and fungi. Patients with compromised immune systems due to
chemotherapy or other immune-compromising medical treatments are
susceptible to these potentially deadly fungal infections, and
there are over 600,000 cases of invasive and potentially
life-threatening fungal infections due to Candida, Aspergillus, and
rare molds annually worldwide.
Amplyx has completed Phase I clinical trials for both IV and
oral formulations of APX001 to address the need for hospital
administration as well as continued dosage after hospital
discharge. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted
orphan drug designation to APX001 and has also designated APX001 as
a Qualified Infectious Disease Product (QIDP) for the treatment of
multiple fungal infections.
Amplyx is led by a group of drug development veterans with deep
infectious disease expertise. Ciara Kennedy, Ph.D., serves as
president and CEO, and she was previously chief operating officer
at Lumena Pharmaceuticals where she led clinical development
programs resulting in its acquisition by Shire. Executive chairman
Mike Grey was previously the president and CEO of Lumena
Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Shire), Auspex Pharmaceuticals
(acquired by Teva), SGX Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Eli Lilly),
and Trega Biosciences (acquired by Lion Bioscience) and was
recently chairman of Ziarco Pharma (acquired by Novartis).
Joe Anderson, Chief Executive Officer of Arix Bioscience plc,
commented: "Invasive, life-threatening fungal infections present a
serious unmet medical need, particularly for patients with
compromised immune function, as the number of therapeutic options
is quite limited. There have been relatively few recent advances in
this area, and many existing agents are difficult to use, poorly
tolerated or ineffective due to the rise of drug-resistant strains.
The novel treatment that Amplyx is developing is potentially
transformative, and we are pleased to support its continued
development by a proven management team, alongside an experienced
group of co-investors."
For more information, please contact:
Arix Bioscience plc
Joe Anderson, CEO
+44 (0) 20 7290 1052
Consilium Strategic Communications
Mary-Jane Elliott, Jessica Hodgson, Ivar Milligan
+44 (0)20 3709 5700
arix@consilium-comms.com
About Arix Bioscience plc
Arix Bioscience plc is a global healthcare and life science
company supporting medical innovation. Headquartered in London and
with an office in New York, Arix Bioscience sources, finances and
builds world class healthcare and life science businesses
addressing medical innovation at all stages of development.
Operations are supported by privileged access to breakthrough
academic science and strategic relationships with leading research
accelerators and global pharmaceutical companies.
Arix Bioscience plc is listed on the Main Market of the London
Stock Exchange.
For further information, please visit www.arixbioscience.com
About Amplyx Pharmaceuticals
Amplyx Pharmaceuticals is developing novel, broad-spectrum
antifungal agents for the treatment of life-threatening fungal
infections. Amplyx has raised $118.5 million in venture capital and
secured more than $10 million in grants from the National
Institutes of Health to support its drug discovery and development
efforts. Other key executives include chief medical officer Mike
Hodges, M.D., and chief scientific officer Karen Joy Shaw, Ph.D.
Mike was previously at Pfizer where he was the development team
leader for Vfend(R), the gold standard therapy for invasive
aspergillosis. He also worked on the Eraxis(R) and Diflucan(R)
antifungal programs. Karen was previously senior vice president of
biology at Trius Therapeutics where she led the microbiology work
supporting the approval of Sivextro(R). She also served as team
leader for infectious diseases at Johnson & Johnson
Pharmaceutical Research & Development. For more information,
please visit www.amplyx.com.
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
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