Arix Bioscience participates in $67 million Series C financing for Amplyx Pharmaceuticals
August 02 2017 - 6:01AM
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 plcJoe Anderson, CEO+44
(0) 20 7290 1052
Consilium Strategic
CommunicationsMary-Jane Elliott, Jessica Hodgson, Ivar
Milligan+44 (0)20 3709 5700arix@consilium-comms.com
About Arix Bioscience plcArix 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 PharmaceuticalsAmplyx
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®, the
gold standard therapy for invasive aspergillosis. He also worked on
the Eraxis® and Diflucan® antifungal programs. Karen was previously
senior vice president of biology at Trius Therapeutics where she
led the microbiology work supporting the approval of Sivextro®. She
also served as team leader for infectious diseases at Johnson &
Johnson Pharmaceutical Research & Development. For more
information, please visit www.amplyx.com.
Arix Bioscience (LSE:ARIX)
Historical Stock Chart
From Apr 2024 to May 2024
Arix Bioscience (LSE:ARIX)
Historical Stock Chart
From May 2023 to May 2024