REG-Arix Bioscience PLC Business Update and Cancellation of Share Buyback

Arix BioscienceAnnouncement

18/10/2021 07:05

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   Arix Bioscience PLC (ARIX)
   Business Update and Cancellation of Share Buyback

   18-Oct-2021 / 07:00 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 

               Business Update and Cancellation of Share Buyback

                                        

   LONDON, 18 October  2021: Arix Bioscience  plc ("Arix"  or the  "Company")
   (LSE: ARIX), a global venture capital company focused on investing in  and
   building breakthrough  biotech  companies,  today announces  a  number  of
   developments.

    

   Over the past six months Arix has  worked to position the Company for  the
   future which has  involved a number  of strategic actions.  The Board  has
   been strengthened, most recently with the addition of Sir Michael  Bunbury
   as Senior  Independent  Director,  whilst the  Investment  Team  has  been
   expanded. This started with Mark Chin  re-joining Arix in July 2021.  Mark
   had been instrumental in driving much of the current portfolio,  including
   VelosBio which was acquired  by Merck for  $2.75 billion generating  gross
   proceeds to Arix  of £138.5  million and a  12.5x return  on the  original
   investment. In the three  months since re-joining  Arix, Mark has  already
   led a new investment, £8 million  into Disc Medicine, which is  developing
   novel  therapies  to   treat  serious   and  debilitating   haematological
   disorders.

   Today, Arix is  pleased to  announce that  David Cristina,  PhD, has  also
   joined Arix as a  secondee from Fosun International  where he was Head  of
   Fosun's  European  Healthcare  Investment   Team.  David  has  15   years'
   experience in early stage investment and venture-building and is an expert
   in the ageing  research field.  As part of  Arix's strategic  relationship
   with Fosun  International,  David  will provide  additional  capacity  and
   expertise to the Investment Team.

   Meanwhile Arix's portfolio has continued to mature. In addition to the new
   investment into Disc Medicine, existing portfolio company Pyxis  Oncology,
   which   is    developing    next-generation   therapeutics    to    target
   difficult-to-treat cancers, listed  on Nasdaq Global  Market on 8  October
   2021. Portfolio  company Aura  Biosciences, which  is developing  a  novel
   treatment for primary choroidal melanoma, has also filed its intention  to
   IPO on Nasdaq.

   Arix has  continued  to see  a  strong pipeline  of  promising  investment
   opportunities and with the expanded  Investment Team it is confident  that
   it can  continue  to profitably  deploy  the cash  generated  from  recent
   realisations.

   The Board  has therefore  decided to  cease its  share buyback  programme,
   announced on 15 March 2021, with immediate effect. The cancellation of the
   share buyback programme will enable Arix to pursue greater value  creation
   through  investment  into  the  most  innovative  biotech  companies.   It
   demonstrates Arix's commitment  to creating and  delivering value for  all
   stakeholders and  the  Board's  confidence in  the  business.  During  the
   programme Arix has spent £11.5  million and bought back 6,429,853  shares,
   representing 4.7%  of  its issued  share  capital prior  to  starting  the
   programme. The average  price paid was  £1.79 per share,  compared to  the
   last reported NAV per share of £2.14.

   Robert Lyne, Chief  Executive Officer of  Arix, said: "I  am delighted  to
   welcome David to the Investment Team. He brings a wealth of  international
   experience and a  successful track record  of supporting exciting  biotech
   companies. We continue to  build our team by  adding new talent to  deploy
   investment capital from the realisations of our portfolio and I am pleased
   that we are seeing  numerous exciting investment  opportunities in the  US
   and Europe. Ceasing  our share  buyback programme  early demonstrates  our
   confidence in the Investment Team, our pipeline and our ability to  deploy
   capital profitably and to generate superior risk-adjusted returns."

    

                                      ENDS 

   Enquiries

   For more information on Arix, please contact:

    

   Arix Bioscience plc
   +44 (0) 20 7290 1050
    1 ir@arixbioscience.com

    

   Optimum Strategic Communications

   Mary Clark, Manel Mateus
   +44 (0)20 8078 4357
    2 optimum.arix@optimumcomms.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.  3 www.arixbioscience.com

    

    

    

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   ISIN:           GB00BD045071
   Category Code:  MSCH
   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.:   124516
   EQS News ID:    1241266


    
   End of Announcement EQS News Service

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References

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   1. mailto:ir@arixbioscience.com
   2. mailto:optimum.arix@optimumcomms.com
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