Arix Bioscience plc Aura completes $40 million Series D financing

 
TIDMARIX 
 
THIS ANNOUNCEMENT CONTAINS INSIDE INFORMATION WITHIN THE MEANING OF THE EU 
                      MARKET ABUSE REGULATION NO.596/2014 
 
                              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 
[phone] 
[e-mail] 
 
Optimum Strategic Communications 
 
Mary Clark, Supriya Mathur 
T: [phone] 
[e-mail] 
 
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 
 

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 02, 2019 02:09 ET (06:09 GMT)