REG-Arix Bioscience PLC Arix Bioscience PLC: Depixus raises €30.6M (£26.1 million) in Series A Financing

Arix BioscienceAnnouncement

15/12/2021 08:15

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   Arix Bioscience PLC (ARIX)
   Arix Bioscience PLC: Depixus raises €30.6M (£26.1 million) in Series A
   Financing

   15-Dec-2021 / 08:14 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

                                        

          Depixus raises €30.6M (£26.1 million) in Series A Financing

    

   LONDON, UK, 15th December 2021: Arix Bioscience plc ("Arix", LSE: ARIX), a
   global venture  capital  company  focused on  investing  in  and  building
   breakthrough biotech  companies, today  notes that  its portfolio  company
   Depixus has successfully completed  its oversubscribed Series A  financing
   which raised €30.6 million (£26.1 million 1  1 ).

    

   Depixus is a biotechnology company developing a unique technology for  the
   fast, accurate, and  straightforward extraction  of multiomic  information
   from DNA, RNA, and proteins. Funds from the financing will enable  Depixus
   to further develop its proprietary MAGNA(TM) instrument system, workflows,
   and reagents towards commercial launch.

    

   Having participated in the first tranche of the Series A financing in
   February 2021, investing €2.7 million (£2.4 million 2  2 ), Arix now has a
   14.2% fully diluted ownership stake in Depixus.

   Mark  Chin,  Managing  Director  at  Arix  and  Depixus  Board   Director,
   commented: "This is an exciting time for Depixus as it moves forward  with
   its goal to commercialise a highly innovative technology platform for  the
   fast, accurate,  and  inexpensive  extraction of  genetic  and  epigenetic
   information from single  molecules of DNA  and RNA. Arix  is committed  to
   building breakthrough biotech  companies, and  it is a  privilege to  work
   alongside such a distinguished team of entrepreneurs and co-investors."

    

   The    announcement    can    be    accessed    on    Depixus'     website
   at:  3 www.depixus.com and  full  text  of announcement  from  Depixus  is
   contained below.

    

                                      ENDS 

   For more information on Arix, please contact:

    

   Arix Bioscience plc

   +44 (0)20 7290 1050

   ir@arixbioscience.com

    

   Powerscourt Group

   Sarah MacLeod, Ibrahim Khalil

   +44 (0)20 7250 1446

   arix@powerscourt-group.com

    

   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.  4 www.arixbioscience.com

    

   About Depixus(R) and MAGNA(TM)

   Depixus(R) is a fast-growing innovative biotechnology company based in
   Paris, France, and Cambridge, UK, developing its cutting-edge MAGNA(TM)
   technology to reveal the secrets of the dynamic genome. The technology is
   set to transform our understanding of how genetics is regulated and
   provide powerful new insights into the mechanisms of disease.

    

   Depixus(R) is a spin-out from Ecole Normale Supérieure (ENS), one of the
   most prestigious 'grandes écoles' in France. The company has been financed
   not only through equity investment but also via numerous grants, including
   from the EU's Horizon 2020 SME Instrument and Innovate UK programmes.

    

   The MAGNA(TM) technology is based on an instrument system called a
   'magnetic trap'. Samples of nucleic acid are captured within a flow cell
   and then can be analysed at multiple levels of resolution. To learn more
   about the way the MAGNA(TM) technology works and some of the many
   different assays that can be performed with the platform, please visit
    5 www.depixus.com.

    

                                        

           Depixus Raises EUR 30.6M (USD 35.4M) in Series A Financing

    

     • The financing will support development of a commercial instrument
       system based on the company's proprietary and disruptive MAGNA(TM)
       technology. 
     • MAGNA(TM) is set to unlock the field of dynamic genomics.
     • Funds raised from a global investor syndicate led by Lansdowne
       Partners and Bpifrance and supported by funds bringing additional
       experience in the life science sector.

    

   Paris, France and Cambridge, UK, 15 December 2021: Depixus(R), a
   biotechnology company developing a unique technology for the fast,
   accurate, and straightforward extraction of multiomic information from
   DNA, RNA, and proteins, today announces it has raised EUR 30.6 million in
   an oversubscribed Series A financing. The funds will be used to further
   develop its proprietary MAGNA(TM) instrument system, workflows, and
   reagents towards commercial launch. The round was co-led by Lansdowne
   Partners and the PSIM Fund operated by Bpifrance on behalf of the French
   State, with participation by Casdin Capital, and existing investors,
   including Arix Bioscience. This financing brings the company's total
   equity and grant funding to-date to over EUR 41 million (USD 47 million).

    

   With MAGNA(TM), large numbers of individual molecules of DNA and RNA are
   captured in their native form, immobilised within a flow cell, and are
   then available for repeated interrogations that can reveal a broad range
   of features including base modifications, molecular structure, and
   interactions with other nucleic acids, proteins, or drugs. These
   capabilities unlock previously unattainable insights into the "dynamic
   genome" - the layers of information beyond the four-base coding sequences
   of DNA and RNA, that are key to gene expression, regulation, and control.

    

   Detection of abnormal changes in base modification patterning have been
   shown to underpin many disease processes. The MAGNA(TM) technology will
   greatly accelerate access to this complex layer of the dynamic genome,
   opening up significant opportunities in the earlier detection and improved
   management of major diseases such as cancer.  Moreover, the way in which
   nucleic acids, especially RNA, are folded and structured is also critical
   to biological regulation. With MAGNA(TM) these structures can often be
   revealed and analysed in detail.  MAGNA(TM) therefore has strong potential
   as an aid in the discovery of drugs that either disrupt or stabilise RNA
   structures - affording opportunities to modulate hitherto 'undruggable'
   pathological cellular processes.

    

   Gordon Hamilton, CEO and Co-founder of Depixus, commented: "We are
   extremely excited by the power of our MAGNA technology to overcome the
   current challenges of base modification sequencing and RNA structural
   analysis. Our technology looks set to open new horizons in applications
   such as biomarker discovery for liquid biopsy cancer detection, virology,
   and the development of drugs targeting RNA.

    

   We are very pleased to attract such a strong group of investors, which
   further validates the potential of the MAGNA platform to transform our
   understanding of cellular processes. Thanks to the support from our new
   and existing investors, we will continue to recruit additional top talent
   in France and the UK to further develop the platform through to commercial
   launch and beyond."

    

   John Berriman, Chairman of Depixus, said: "Depixus has grown by leaps and
   bounds since its inception.  We are now confident that MAGNA instruments
   will provide unique and economical insights into the development and
   treatment of disease.

    

   This is a very exciting time for the Company as it progresses from
   pre-commercial research towards the launch of products."

    

   Lachlan MacKinnon, Board member and representative of Lansdowne commented:
   "I am truly excited to join the Board of Depixus at this critical moment
   in the company's history.

    

   The Depixus technology will enable scientists and biotechnology companies
   to move from a world of measuring DNA and RNA as linear, one-dimensional
   sequences, to one of dynamic, three-dimensional objects with many base
   modifications, at scale.

    

   Having seen the impact of methylation detection on liquid biopsy, I look
   forward to the company making sizeable contributions across the wider
   dynamic genomics landscape".

    

   Thibaut Roulon, Senior Investment Director at Bpifrance said: "We are
   delighted to partner with Lansdowne to support Depixus in the development
   of its MAGNA instrumentation system. The company is a laureate of the
   final phase of France's Worldwide Innovation Challenge. Depixus has proven
   the excellence of its breakthrough technology for the fast, accurate and
   straightforward extraction of information from DNA and RNA molecules
   beyond their simple sequence. This opens the door for many applications
   such as earlier and more accurate cancer diagnosis."

    

   Following this capital raise, Lachlan MacKinnon and Thibaut Roulon, will
   join Mark Chin of Arix Bioscience, Ronald Lindsay, Steve Allen, Gordon
   Hamilton, and John Berriman, on the Board of Directors.

    

   The company is based in Paris, France and Cambridge, UK, and is actively
    6 recruiting top talent to join its team.

    

   Depixus(R) recently announced the publication of a scientific paper
   showcasing the MAGNATM capabilities in the peer-reviewed journal
   Communications Biology, part of Nature Research journals. The paper,
   entitled 'Detection of genetic variation and base modifications at
   base-pair resolution on both DNA and RNA', can be freely downloaded
    7 here.

    

   For further information, please contact:

    

   Depixus(R)

   Gordon Hamilton, CEO

    8 gordon.hamilton@depixus.com

    

   Optimum Strategic Communications

   Hollie Vile, Stella Lempidaki, Zoe Bolt

    9 depixus@optimumcomms.com

   +44 (0) 20 388 296 21

    

   About Depixus(R) and MAGNA(TM)

   Depixus(R) is a fast-growing innovative biotechnology company based in
   Paris, France, and Cambridge, UK, developing its cutting-edge MAGNA(TM)
   technology to reveal the secrets of the dynamic genome. The technology is
   set to transform our understanding of how genetics is regulated and
   provide powerful new insights into the mechanisms of disease.

    

   Depixus(R) is a spin-out from spin-out from Ecole Normale Supérieure
   (ENS), one of the most prestigious 'grandes écoles' in France. The company
   has been financed not only through equity investment but also via numerous
   grants, including from the EU's Horizon 2020 SME Instrument and Innovate
   UK programmes.

    

   The MAGNA(TM) technology is based on an instrument system called a
   'magnetic trap'. Samples of nucleic acid are captured within a flow cell
   and then can be analysed at multiple levels of resolution. To learn more
   about the way the MAGNA(TM) technology works and some of the many
   different assays that can be performed with the platform, please visit
    10 www.depixus.com.

    

   About Lansdowne Partners

    

   Lansdowne Partners is an investment management partnership founded in
   1998. The firm manages assets for a diversified client base that includes
   some of the world's largest and most sophisticated investors.

    

   About Bpifrance and the PSIM Fund

    

   Bpifrance is the French national investment bank: it finances businesses -
   at every stage of their development - through loans, guarantees, equity
   investments and export insurances. Bpifrance also provides extra financial
   services (training, consultancy) to help entrepreneurs meet their
   challenges (innovation, export.).

   Created in June 2017 as part of the Future Investment Program (PIA) and
   managed on behalf of the State by Bpifrance, the PSIM fund "Major
   Innovation Support Program" aims in particular to support the winners of
   the Global Innovation Competition via an equity investment. It enables
   French start-ups to move towards the industrialization of their
   breakthrough innovations and their international development.

    

   For more information, please visit: https://www.bpifrance.com/

   Follow us on Twitter: @Bpifrance - @BpifrancePresse

    

   Bpifrance press contacts:

   Juliette Fontanillas - Tel : +33 1 42 47 97 61 -
   juliette.fontanillas@bpifrance.fr

   Sarah Madani - Tel: +33 1 42 47 96 89 - sarah.madani@bpifrance.fr

    

    

                                        

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    11  1  At exchange rate on 14th December 2021

    12  2  At exchange rate on 25th February 2021

   ══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

   ISIN:           GB00BD045071
   Category Code:  PFU
   TIDM:           ARIX
   LEI Code:       213800OVT3AHQCXNIX43
   OAM Categories: 3.1. Additional regulated information required to be
                   disclosed under the laws of a Member State
   Sequence No.:   130201
   EQS News ID:    1257935


    
   End of Announcement EQS News Service

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