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Arix Bioscience
plc
Artios completes
£65m Series B investment round
Arix interest increased to
£15.3 million ($19.7
million1), becoming largest shareholder in
Artios
Supporting proven
management team in accelerating development of next generation DNA
Damage Response (DDR) pipeline
LONDON, 10 August, 2018: Arix Bioscience plc (“Arix”,
LSE: ARIX) a global healthcare and life science company supporting
medical innovation, today announces that its Group Business Artios
Pharma Limited (“Artios”), a leading DNA Damage Response (DDR)
company developing innovative treatments for cancer, has completed
an oversubscribed £65 million ($84
million1) Series B financing (the “Financing”)
following strong interest from investors.
As part of the Financing, Arix:
-
Committed to invest £8 million ($10.3
million[1]) over two tranches;
-
Completed its remaining £1.5 million ($1.9 million1) Series A commitment;
and
-
Invested a further £0.6 million ($0.8
million1) by purchasing a stake from an existing
shareholder.
Following this investment, Arix becomes the largest shareholder
in Artios, retaining a 12.4% stake on a fully diluted basis. Arix’s
Jonathan Tobin will continue to
serve on the Artios Board.
The financing recognised a 26% uplift in the book value of
Arix’s Series A investment in Artios, with Arix’s total interest in
Artios increasing to £15.3 million from £5.1 million.
The new funds will enable Artios to advance its portfolio of
first-in-class, small molecule DDR programmes, including its lead
programme targeting DNA polymerase theta (Pol?), through clinical
proof of concept trials.
New global institutional investors Andera Partners, Life
Sciences Partners, Pfizer Ventures and Novartis Venture Fund joined
the Series B round. In addition to Arix, Artios’ existing
shareholders SV Health Investors, M Ventures, IP Group plc and
AbbVie Ventures also participated in the round.
Joe Anderson, Chief Executive
Officer of Arix Bioscience plc, commented: “Artios is
actively developing a pipeline of highly promising, first-in-class
DDR therapies which have the potential to bring real impact to
cancer patients. We are delighted to support this proven management
team, which during their tenure at KuDOS (successfully sold to
AstraZeneca) played a key role in the discovery and early
development of olaparib, the first approved DDR therapy and PARP
inhibitor, now used to treat ovarian and breast cancer, creating a
billion dollar market. As early investors in Artios, we are excited
to continue working with the team and this group of renowned
investors to build a world leading DDR company and create
significant value for both patients and investors.”
Niall Martin, Chief Executive
Officer of Artios added: “Arix is focused on supporting
innovation and creating and building world class companies. They
were instrumental in putting together this stellar investor
syndicate and we value their continued support as we progress the
development of our novel DDR programmes.”
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, Hollie
Vile
+44 203 714 1787
optimum.arix@optimumcomms.com
Burns McClellan (US Media & IR
Enquiries)
Lisa Burns, John Grimaldi, Bill
Slattery Jr., Nancie
Steinberg
+1 212-213-0006
arix@burnsmc.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 Artios Pharma Limited
Artios is a leading DNA Damage Response (DDR) company focused on
developing first-in-class treatments for cancer. The Company,
founded by SV Health Investors in 2016, is led by an experienced
scientific and leadership team with proven expertise in DDR drug
discovery. It has a unique partnership with Cancer Research UK
(CRUK), and collaborations with leading DNA repair researchers
worldwide, such as the National Centre for Biomolecular Research at
Masaryk University. Artios is building a pipeline of
next-generation DDR programmes to target hard to treat cancers.
Backed by blue chip investors including: Arix Bioscience plc - the
largest shareholder in Artios, SV Health Investors, M Ventures, IP
Group plc, AbbVie Ventures, Andera Partners (formerly EdRIP), LSP
(Life Science Partners), Pfizer Ventures and Novartis Venture Fund
(NVF). Artios is based at the Babraham Research Campus in
Cambridge, UK.
www.artiospharma.com
[1] At exchange rate on 9 August
2018