Arix Bioscience plc

Portfolio company Disc Medicine announces $62.5 million financing

LONDON, 14 February 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 portfolio company, Disc Medicine, today announced a $62.5 million financing to advance its portfolio of novel haematology programmes. 

The financing was led by Bain Capital Life Sciences, who contributed $50 million, with participation from existing investors, Access Biotechnology and OrbiMed.

The announcement can be accessed on Disc Medicine’s website at: https://www.discmedicine.com/ and the full text of the announcement from the company is contained below.

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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. www.arixbioscience.com

Disc Medicine Press Release:

Disc Medicine Announces $62.5 Million Financing led by Bain Capital Life Sciences to Advance Portfolio of Novel Hematology Programs

WATERTOWN, Mass., Feb. 14, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Disc Medicine, Inc. (NASDAQ: IRON) a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of novel treatments for patients suffering from serious hematologic diseases, today announced it has entered into a securities purchase agreement with certain investors resulting in an aggregate $62.5 million in gross proceeds through a registered direct offering. The financing was led by Bain Capital Life Sciences, who contributed $50 million, with participation from existing investors, Access Biotechnology and OrbiMed.

The financing includes 1,488,166 shares of the Company's common stock at a price of $23.00 per share and pre-funded warrants to purchase up to an aggregate of 1,229,224 shares of common stock, at a purchase price of $22.9999, which represents the per share offering price for the common stock less the $0.0001 exercise price for each pre-funded warrant. The offering is expected to close on or about February 15, 2023, subject to customary closing conditions.

The shares of common stock and pre-funded warrants were offered pursuant to a shelf registration statement on Form S-3 (File No. 333-269272) that was previously filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) on January 18, 2023, and declared effective by the SEC on January 18, 2023. A final prospectus supplement, which contains additional information relating to the offering, has been filed with the SEC and is available on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov.

“We are delighted to welcome Bain Capital Life Sciences as an investor during a transformational time for Disc. Our pipeline of three clinical-stage programs, each with therapeutic potential in a range of indications, is expected to provide a series of important clinical trial read-outs beginning mid-year,” said John Quisel, J.D., Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer and President of Disc. “This investment adds to the financial strength of the company and will enable us to pursue the development of our programs with confidence as we advance toward phase 2 data.”

“We are thrilled to support Disc in its vision to build a leading hematology company and believe the Company’s unique approach of targeting heme synthesis and iron metabolism addresses fundamental processes of red blood cell development,” said Ricky Sun, PhD, Partner at Bain Capital Life Sciences. “We look forward to supporting the Company as the data from programs mature and Disc looks towards its next phase of growth.”

This investment will primarily support development of Disc’s clinical-stage pipeline including:

• Bitopertin (heme synthesis): a first-in-class, investigational, orally administered inhibitor of glycine transporter 1 (GlyT1) that is designed to modulate heme biosynthesis. It is currently being studied in patients with erythropoietic protoporphyria (EPP) in the ongoing phase 2 BEACON and AURORA clinical trials. Disc expects to initiate a separate trial in Diamond-Blackfan Anemia (DBA) patients in the first half of 2023. Studies in additional indications are being planned.
• DISC-0974 (hepcidin suppression): a first-in-class, investigational, anti-hemojuvelin (HJV) monoclonal antibody designed to suppress hepcidin production and increase serum iron to enable erythropoiesis. It is currently being studied in an ongoing phase 1b/2 clinical trial in myelofibrosis patients with anemia. A separate trial in patients with anemia of chronic kidney disease (CKD) not receiving dialysis is expected to initiate in the first half of 2023 and studies in other forms of anemia of inflammation are being planned.
• MWTX-003 (hepcidin induction): a first-in-class, investigational, anti-TMPRSS6 (also known as Matriptase-2) monoclonal antibody designed to increase hepcidin production and suppress serum iron. An IND has been accepted by the FDA and a phase 1 clinical trial of MWTX-003 in healthy volunteers are expected to initiate in 2023. Disc plans to develop MWTX-003 as a treatment for polycythemia vera and other indications.

About Disc Medicine

Disc Medicine (NASDAQ:IRON) is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company committed to discovering, developing, and commercializing novel treatments for patients who suffer from serious hematologic diseases. We are building a portfolio of innovative, first-in-class therapeutic candidates that aim to address a wide spectrum of hematologic diseases by targeting fundamental biological pathways of red blood cell biology, specifically heme biosynthesis and iron homeostasis. For more information, please visit www.discmedicine.com.