LONDON: Arix Bioscience plc, a global venture capital company focused on investing and building breakthrough biotech companies, announces that it has committed $4.5 million to the $40 million Series D financing of Aura Biosciences, a leader in the development of novel targeted therapies in ocular oncology.
Following this commitment, Arix increases its stake to 7.7% on a fully diluted basis. Arix Investment Director Mark Chin will continue to serve on the Aura Board. The financing recognised a 33% uplift in the book value of Arix’s Series C investment in Aura, with Arix’s total interest in Aura increasing to £8.5 million from £3.9 million on a fully committed basis.
Aura plans to use the proceeds from the Series D to support the late stage clinical development of its lead asset, light-activated AU-011, for the treatment of primary choroidal melanoma. The currently available treatments for choroidal melanoma come with the risk of severe vision loss and other long-term sequelae, especially for patients with melanomas located close to the fovea or optic disk.
The ongoing Phase 1b/2 study with light-activated AU-011 has shown that the drug was well-tolerated, with clear evidence of tumor control and preservation of visual acuity at long term follow up, even in high risk patients. Aura has been granted Orphan Drug and Fast Track status from the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) and expects to initiate a registration trial in 2020.
Medicxi served as the lead new investor. In addition to Arix, Aura’ss existing investors Lundbeckfonden Ventures, Advent Life Sciences, Chiesi Ventures, Ysios Capital, Alexandria Venture Investments, Columbus Venture Partners, LI-COR Biosciences and several individual investors, including the estate of Henri Termeer, participated in the financing.[the_ad id=”31605″]