REG-Arix Bioscience PLC Portfolio company Harpoon Therapeutics announces closing of $25 million private placement

Arix BioscienceAnnouncement

28/03/2023 07:15

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   Arix Bioscience PLC (ARIX)
   Portfolio company Harpoon Therapeutics announces closing of $25 million
   private placement

   28-March-2023 / 07:00 GMT/BST

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                              Arix Bioscience plc

                                        

    Portfolio company Harpoon Therapeutics announces closing of $25 million
                               private placement

   LONDON, 28 March 2023: Arix Bioscience plc (“Arix” or the “Company”) (LSE:
   ARIX),  a  global  venture  capital   company  focused  on  investing   in
   breakthrough  biotechnology  companies,  notes  that  its  Core  Portfolio
   company, Harpoon  Therapeutics  (“Harpoon”),  announced it  has  closed  a
   private placement to raise $25 million from redeemable preferred stock and
   warrants for the purchase of common stock.

   The financing  included  participation  from new  and  existing  investors
   including  New  Leaf,  Invus,  OrbiMed,  and  K2  Health  Ventures.   Arix
   participated with a $3.5 million investment in redeemable preferred  stock
   which is  not convertible  into  common stock  but  is redeemable  on  the
   occurrence of  certain  events,  including  the  receipt  of  proceeds  in
   connection with  certain  strategic  transactions.  Arix  retains  a  6.7%
   holding in Harpoon, subject to any future exercise of warrants over common
   stock issued to investors pursuant to the current financing.

   The proceeds will be used  to complete Harpoon’s ongoing clinical  studies
   for two of its TriTAC® T cell engagers: HPN217 (BCMA), being studied in  a
   Phase 1 trial for patients with relapsed and refractory multiple  myeloma;
   and  HPN328  (DLL3),  a  Phase  1/2  study  for  patients  with   multiple
   neuroendocrine   tumours,   including   small   cell   lung   cancer   and
   neuroendocrine prostate cancer. 

   Robert Lyne, CEO of  Arix Bioscience, stated: “We  are pleased to  support
   the ongoing progress of Harpoon’s HPN328  and HPN217, the latter of  which
   is  well  positioned  to  be  a  best-in-class  BCMA/CD3-targeted  T  cell
   engager.   This  financing  demonstrates  Arix’s  versatile  approach   to
   supporting the Core Portfolio with alternative structures of funding at  a
   time when public market activity remains subdued.” 

   The announcement  can be  accessed on  Harpoon Therapeutics’  website  at:
    1 www.harpoontx.com and  the  full  text of  the  announcement  from  the
   company is contained below.

                                      ENDS 

    

   Enquiries

   For more information on Arix, please contact:

    

   Arix Bioscience plc

   +44 (0)20 7290 1050

   ir 2 @arixbioscience.com

    

   Powerscourt Group

   Sarah MacLeod, Ibrahim Khalil, Nick Johnson

   +44 (0)20 7250 1446

    3 arix@powerscourt-group.com

    

   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

    

                      Harpoon Therapeutics Press Release:

    

    Harpoon Therapeutics Announces Closing of $25 Million Private Placement

    

   SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., March 27, 2023 -- Harpoon Therapeutics,
   Inc. (NASDAQ: HARP) (the “Company”), a clinical-stage immuno-oncology
   company developing novel T cell engagers, today announced that it has
   closed a private placement of redeemable preferred stock and warrants to
   purchase common stock to certain institutional and other accredited
   investors for aggregate gross proceeds to the Company of $25 million,
   before deducting offering expenses, which does not include any proceeds
   that may be received upon exercise of the warrants.

    

   The private placement included participation from new and existing
   investors, including New Leaf, Arix Bioscience, Invus, OrbiMed and K2
   HealthVentures.

    

   SVB Securities provided exclusive financial advisory services to the
   Company.

    

   The Company intends to use the net proceeds to complete its ongoing Phase
   1 clinical studies for two TriTAC® T cell engagers, including HPN217
   (BCMA) being studied in a Phase 1 trial for patients with relapsed and
   refractory multiple myeloma, and HPN328 (DLL3), a Phase 1 / 2 study for
   patients with multiple neuroendocrine tumors, including small cell lung
   cancer and neuroendocrine prostate cancer. The proceeds will also be used
   for working capital and other general corporate purposes.

   “In these challenging markets we are appreciative of the ongoing support
   from our investors, including those who have been with us for many years
   and have supported the discovery and development of our novel T cell
   engagers. This support will provide us sufficient capital, beyond our
   anticipated 2023 milestones, into the second half of 2024,” said Julie
   Eastland, President and CEO of Harpoon.

    

   Investors purchased an aggregate of (i) 25,000 shares of preferred stock
   at a price per share of $1,000 and (ii) warrants to purchase 7,485,762
   shares of common stock with an exercise price of $0.978885 per share,
   which represents a 35% premium to the closing price of common stock at the
   time of the signing of the definitive agreements with respect to the
   private placement. The preferred stock issued in the private placement is
   not convertible into common stock and is redeemable at any time at the
   option of the Company and mandatorily redeemable by the Company upon the
   occurrence of certain events, including the receipt of proceeds in
   connection with certain strategic transactions, and on the third
   anniversary of the closing date, in each case subject to a return
   multiple. 

    

   Additional information regarding the private placement will be included in
   a Form 8-K to be filed by the Company with the Securities and Exchange
   Commission, and this press release is subject to the further detail
   provided in the Form 8-K.

    

   The offer and sale of the foregoing securities were made in a transaction
   not involving a public offering and the securities have not been
   registered under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities
   Act”), or applicable state securities laws. Accordingly, the securities
   may not be reoffered or resold in the United States except pursuant to an
   effective registration statement or an applicable exemption from the
   registration requirements of the Securities Act and such applicable state
   securities laws.

    

   This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or the
   solicitation of an offer to buy the securities, nor shall there be any
   sale of the securities in any state in which such offer, solicitation or
   sale would be unlawful prior to the registration or qualification under
   the securities laws of such state.

    

   About Harpoon Therapeutics

    

   Harpoon Therapeutics is a clinical-stage immuno-oncology company
   developing a novel class of T cell engagers that harness the power of the
   body’s immune system to treat patients suffering from cancer and other
   diseases. T cell engagers are engineered proteins that direct a patient’s
   own T cells to kill target cells that express specific proteins, or
   antigens, carried by the target cells. Using its proprietary Tri-specific
   T cell Activating Construct (TriTAC®) platform, Harpoon is developing a
   pipeline of novel TriTACs initially focused on the treatment of solid
   tumors and hematologic malignancies. Harpoon has also developed a
   proprietary ProTriTAC™ platform, which applies a prodrug concept to its
   TriTAC platform to create a therapeutic T cell engager that remains
   inactive until it reaches the tumor. Harpoon’s third proprietary
   technology platform, extended release TriTAC-XR, is designed to mitigate
   cytokine release syndrome. For additional information about Harpoon
   Therapeutics, please visit  5 www.harpoontx.com.

    

   END

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   Dissemination of a Regulatory Announcement, transmitted by EQS Group.
   The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

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   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.:   232901
   EQS News ID:    1593619


    
   End of Announcement EQS News Service

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