Arix Bioscience PLC (ARIX) Arix Bioscience PLC: Blackstone Life Sciences to invest up to USD250 million in Autolus Therapeutics to develop obe-cel in adult Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) and advance broader platform 08-Nov-2021 / 13:00 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

Blackstone Life Sciences to invest up to USD250 million in Autolus Therapeutics to develop obe-cel in adult Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) and advance broader platform

LONDON, 08 November 2021: Arix Bioscience plc ("Arix", LSE: ARIX), a global venture capital company focused on investing in and building breakthrough biotech companies, notes that its portfolio company Autolus Therapeutics plc (Nasdaq: AUTL) (Autolus), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing next-generation programmed T cell therapies, has entered into a strategic collaboration and financing agreement with Blackstone (NYSE: BX) under which funds managed by Blackstone Life Sciences ("Blackstone") will provide up to USD250 million in equity and product financing to support Autolus' advancement of its CD19 CAR T cell investigational therapy product candidate, obecabtagene autoleucel (obe-cel), as well as next generation product therapies of obe-cel in B-cell malignancies.

As part of this USD250 million transaction, Blackstone is committing to invest USD150 million in product financing to support obe-cel development and commercialization, with USD50 million payable upon closing of the transaction and the remainder payable based on certain development and regulatory achievements. Blackstone has also agreed to purchase USD100 million of Autolus' American Depositary Shares (ADS) in a private placement, which is subject to customary closing conditions. In connection with the collaboration, Blackstone received the right to nominate a member to Autolus' board of directors.

Arix's existing holding in Autolus is 0.8% and was valued at GBP2.6 million at 30 June 2021.

The announcement can be accessed on the Autolus website at: https://www.autolus.com/investor-relations/ and the full text of the announcement from Autolus is contained below.

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For more information on Arix, please contact:

Arix Bioscience plc

+44 (0)20 7290 1050

ir@arixbioscience.com

Optimum Strategic Communications

Mary Clark, Manel Mateus

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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

AUTOLUS THERAPEUTICS PRESS RELEASE

Blackstone Life Sciences to invest up to USD250 million in Autolus Therapeutics to develop obe-cel in adult Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) and advance broader platform

November 8, 2021 at 2:00 AM EST

- One of the largest private financings of a UK biotech company, and the largest from a single source - continues Blackstone conviction in the country

- Durability and favorable toxicity profile of obe-cel supports its potential as the first stand-alone therapy in adult ALL with curative potential in a last line setting

- Blackstone strategic financing to enable Autolus to complete clinical development of obe-cel in its first indication of relapsed / refractory adult ALL and to support initial pre-approval commercial activities

LONDON and CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Nov. 08, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Autolus Therapeutics plc (Nasdaq: AUTL), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing next-generation programmed T cell therapies, and Blackstone Life Sciences today announced that the two companies have entered into a strategic collaboration and financing agreement under which funds managed by Blackstone (NYSE: BX) will provide up to USD250 million in equity and product financing to support Autolus' advancement of its CD19 CAR T cell investigational therapy product candidate, obecabtagene autoleucel (obe-cel), as well as next generation product therapies of obe-cel in B-cell malignancies.

As part of this USD250 million transaction, Blackstone is committing to invest USD150 million in product financing to support obe-cel development and commercialization, with USD50 million payable upon closing of the transaction and the remainder payable based on certain development and regulatory achievements. Blackstone has also agreed to purchase USD100 million of Autolus' American Depositary Shares (ADS) in a private placement, which is subject to customary closing conditions. In connection with the collaboration, Blackstone received the right to nominate a member to Autolus' board of directors.

The transaction continues Blackstone's commitment to the UK economy which has seen the firm invest more than USD18 billion across 44 investments headquartered in UK. These investments support more than 27,000 direct jobs and help make Blackstone the UK's biggest foreign investor over the past 10 years.

"Autolus is a world-class company with an innovative platform and the potential to deliver best-in-class, lifesaving treatments to patients suffering from cancer," said Dr. Nicholas Galakatos, Global Head of Blackstone Life Sciences. "Our investment in these next generation cell therapies exemplify our conviction in the quality and promise of the life sciences sector in the UK. We look forward to building on this investment in the years to come."

"We welcome Blackstone Life Sciences to join our drive to change the outlook for leukemia and lymphoma patients, notably those with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Blackstone's investment and expertise will support the development and preparation for commercialization of obe-cel and put the program and the Company on a strong financial footing as we are approaching the read-out from the potentially pivotal FELIX clinical trial during the course of 2022," said Dr. Christian Itin, Chief Executive Officer of Autolus.

"We are excited to collaborate with Autolus in support of their innovative platform pursuing safer, more durable, therapies with the potential to be lifesaving options for patients with ALL and beyond. We see a significant opportunity to improve the outlook for cancer patients who are facing a devastating course of their disease," said Nicholas Simon, Senior Managing Director of Blackstone Life Sciences. "This investment continues to build on our conviction in not just innovative cell and gene therapies, but also supporting innovation in the United Kingdom and Europe broadly."

UK Science Minister George Freeman said: "This is another vote of confidence in the quality of life science in the UK, reinforcing our reputation as a world leader in discovering new cures for currently untreatable diseases like Autolus' T cell therapy drugs for leukemia. Big investments like these give real hope to those suffering from diseases like leukemia - and create high skill jobs & opportunities in the development and manufacturing of treatments to help develop and boost our life science clusters all around the UK."

Autolus recently announced plans to build a dedicated manufacturing facility in Stevenage, UK to help secure global commercial launch capacity for obe-cel with a 70,000 square foot building. The ground-breaking ceremony for this new facility is due to be held today, with building works commencing imminently.

Moelis & Company LLC acted as financial advisor. Cooley LLP and Cooley (UK) LLP acted as legal advisor to Autolus, and Goodwin Procter LLP acted as legal advisor to Blackstone.

About the Transaction

The strategic financing collaboration by Autolus and Blackstone Life Sciences is expected to support the development and preparation for commercialization of Autolus' product candidate, obe-cel. As part of this USD250 million transaction, Blackstone is committing to invest an aggregate of USD150 million in product financing to support Autolus' development and potential commercialization of obe-cel, with USD50 million payable upon closing of the transaction and the remainder (up to USD100 million) payable based on certain development and regulatory achievements. In return for this strategic investment, Autolus has agreed to pay Blackstone a capped single digit royalty plus milestone payments based on net sales of obe-cel. In addition, Blackstone will receive a warrant to purchase up to USD24 million worth of Autolus ADSs at an exercise price premium to market. Blackstone has also agreed to make a USD100 million equity investment in Autolus which is expected to close on or about November 12, 2021, subject to customary closing conditions. In connection with the collaboration, Blackstone received the right to nominate a member to Autolus' board of directors.

About Autolus Therapeutics plc

Autolus is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing next-generation, programmed T cell therapies for the treatment of cancer. Using a broad suite of proprietary and modular T cell programming technologies, the Company is engineering precisely targeted, controlled and highly active T cell therapies that are designed to better recognize cancer cells, break down their defense mechanisms and eliminate these cells. Autolus has a pipeline of product candidates in development for the treatment of hematological malignancies and solid tumors. For more information, please visit www.autolus.com.

About obe-cel (obecabtagene autoleucel)

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