REG-Arix Bioscience PLC Portfolio Company Disc Medicine Completes Merger with Gemini Therapeutics

Arix BioscienceAnnouncement

30/12/2022 07:15

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   Arix Bioscience PLC (ARIX)
   Portfolio Company Disc Medicine Completes Merger with Gemini Therapeutics

   30-Dec-2022 / 07:01 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

                                        

   Portfolio Company Disc Medicine Completes Merger with Gemini Therapeutics

                                        

   LONDON, 30 December 2022:  Arix Bioscience plc  (“Arix” or the  “Company”)
   (LSE: ARIX),  a global  venture capital  company focused  on investing  in
   breakthrough biotechnology companies,  notes that  its portfolio  company,
   Disc Medicine, Inc. (“Disc”), has today completed its previously announced
   merger with Gemini Therapeutics,  Inc. (“Gemini”), following the  approval
   of Gemini shareholders.

    

   The  combined  company  will  focus   on  advancing  Disc’s  pipeline   of
   haematology programs. It will operate  under the name Disc Medicine,  Inc.
   and its shares will commence trading on the Nasdaq Global Market under the
   ticker symbol IRON.

    

   Concurrent with the closing of the merger, Disc completed a $53.5  million
   financing in which  Arix participated alongside  an investor syndicate  of
   healthcare investors, led  by Access Biotechnology  and included  OrbiMed,
   Atlas Venture, 5AM Ventures, Novo Holdings A/S, Rock Springs Capital,  and
   Janus Henderson Investors. The projected  cash and cash equivalents as  of
   the close of  the business  combination are expected  to be  approximately
   $175 million, providing operating runway into 2025.

    

   Robert Lyne, CEO  of Arix Bioscience,  said: “We are  thrilled to see  the
   completion of  Disc’s merger  with Gemini  and its  concurrent  fundraise,
   which positions  Disc well  to build  on the  rapid progress  made in  its
   diversified clinical stage pipeline  of products. This merger,  completing
   15 months since our first investment in Disc, is testament to the strength
   of Arix’s refocused strategy to invest in companies with nearer-term value
   inflection points, and we look forward  to seeing further progress in  its
   product pipeline, importantly focused on diseases of unmet medical need.”

    

                                      ENDS 

    

   Enquiries

   For more information on Arix, please contact:

    

   Arix Bioscience plc

   +44 (0)20 7290 1050

   ir 1 @arixbioscience.com

    

   Powerscourt Group

   Sarah MacLeod, Ibrahim Khalil, Nick Johnson

   +44 (0)20 7250 1446

    2 arix@powerscourt-group.com

    

   Notes to Editors

    

   About Gemini Therapeutics, Inc.

   Gemini  Therapeutics  is  a  clinical-stage  precision  medicine   company
   previously focused  on developing  novel  therapeutic compounds  to  treat
   genetically defined age-related macular degeneration (AMD).

   For more information, visit www.geminitherapeutics.com.

    

   About Disc Medicine, Inc.

   Disc Medicine  is  a  clinical-stage  biopharmaceutical  company  that  is
   dedicated  to  transforming  the   lives  of  patients  with   hematologic
   disorders. Disc  is building  a  portfolio of  innovative,  first-in-class
   therapeutic candidates that affect fundamental pathways of red blood  cell
   biology. Disc Medicine is committed to developing treatments that  empower
   and bring hope to the many  patients who suffer from hematologic  disease.
   For more information, please visit  3 www.discmedicine.com.

    

   About the Merger

   Prior to the closing  of the merger,  Gemini effected a  1 for 10  reverse
   stock split of  its common stock.  Following the reverse  stock split  and
   closing of the merger,  there will be approximately  17 million shares  of
   the  combined  company’s   common  stock  outstanding   with  prior   Disc
   shareholders owning approximately 74% and prior Gemini shareholders owning
   26%. The combined  company will be  led by John  Quisel, J.D., Ph.D.,  the
   current CEO  and  President  of  Disc,  and  other  members  of  the  Disc
   management team. The Board  of Directors of the  combined company will  be
   composed of nine members, including eight Disc board members and one board
   member from  Gemini.  SVB Securities  served  as the  exclusive  financial
   advisor to Gemini and Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP served  as
   Gemini’s legal  counsel.  Morgan  Stanley served  as  the  lead  financial
   advisor to Disc along with Wedbush PacGrow, and Goodwin Procter LLP served
   as Disc’s legal counsel.

    

   About Disc Medicine’s Haematology Portfolio

   Disc has a clinical-stage development pipeline composed of investigational
   product candidates  that affect  heme  biosynthesis and  iron  metabolism.
   Disc’s  programs  are  designed  to  target  pathways  with   established,
   clinically-validated biology and  have the potential  to address  multiple
   indications. This includes:

    

   Bitopertin (Heme  Synthesis  Modulator): Bitopertin  is  an  inhibitor  of
   glycine  transporter,  GlyT1,  and   has  demonstrated  effects  on   heme
   biosynthesis in clinical studies. Bitopertin was in-licensed by Disc  from
   Roche in 2021 and  has been extensively studied,  including a safety  data
   package  reflecting  clinical  experience   in  over  4,000   individuals.
   Inhibition of heme biosynthesis has the potential to address a wide  range
   of hematologic disorders. Disc has initiated BEACON, an open-label,  phase
   2 trial of bitopertin in  patients with erythropoietic porphyria, a  rare,
   debilitating and  potentially  fatal  genetic  disorder  that  results  in
   dysregulated heme biosynthesis and where  bitopertin has the potential  to
   become the first disease-modifying treatment. Additional clinical  studies
   in Diamond-Blackfan Anemia (DBA) and other indications are being planned.

    

   DISC-0974  (Hepcidin  Suppression): DISC-0974  is  a  monoclonal  antibody
   targeting a  co-receptor  called  hemojuvelin (HJV)  and  is  designed  to
   suppress hepcidin production  and increase serum  iron levels in  patients
   suffering from the  anemia of inflammation.  DISC-0974 was in-licensed  by
   Disc from AbbVie in  2019. Anemia of  inflammation arises from  abnormally
   elevated hepcidin  and  is  the  most common  form  of  anemia,  affecting
   millions of  patients  across numerous  diseases  such as  chronic  kidney
   disease, myelofibrosis, cancer, autoimmune diseases, and other  conditions
   with  an   inflammatory   component.   Disc   has   established   clinical
   proof-of-mechanism of DISC-0974 in a  phase 1 study of healthy  volunteers
   and initiated a phase  1b/2 clinical study of  DISC-0974 in patients  with
   anemia of  myelofibrosis. Disc  plans to  initiate a  phase 1b/2  clinical
   study of  DISC-0974 in  patients  with anemia  of chronic  kidney  disease
   (non-dialysis) in late 2022.

    

   Matriptase-2 Inhibitor (Hepcidin Induction):  Disc has a research  program
   designed  to  identify  orally-available,   small  molecules  to   inhibit
   Matriptase-2 (referred to as Mat-2 or TMPRSS6) and increase the production
   of hepcidin  and  restrict  iron availability.  The  therapeutic  role  of
   hepcidin has  been  established in  patients  with polycythemia  vera  and
   hereditary hemochromatosis,  and is  being studied  for the  treatment  of
   diseases  associated  with  iron  overload,  including   beta-thalassemia,
   myelodysplastic syndromes, and sickle cell disease.

    

    

   About Arix Bioscience plc

   Arix Bioscience  plc  is  a  global venture  capital  company  focused  on
   investing in  breakthrough  biotechnology  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

    

    

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   ISIN:           GB00BD045071
   Category Code:  MSCM
   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.:   212158
   EQS News ID:    1523895


    
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References

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