Financial Results for the Year Ended 31 December 2022, Publication of Annual Report and Notice of Annual General Meeting

Financial Results for the Year Ended 31 December 2022, Publication of Annual Report and Notice of Annual General Meeting

LONDON, UK, 25 April 2023: Arix Bioscience plc (“Arix” or the “Company”) (LSE: ARIX), a global venture capital company focused on investing in breakthrough biotechnology companies, today announces its financial results for the full year ended 31 December 2022 (the “Period”) alongside the Annual Report and Accounts together with its Notice of 2023 Annual General Meeting (the “AGM”).

Financial highlights

• Net Asset Value at Period end of £226 million (December 2021: £255 million); 175p per share (December 2021: 198p)
• Gross Portfolio Value (realised and unrealised) of £99.6million (December 2021: £118.2 million)
• Cash as at 31 December 2022 of £122.8 million (December 2021: £134.2 million)
• £11.1 million of capital deployed into new and existing Core Portfolio companies

Corporate, strategic and operational progress

• Strengthened the Board of Directors with the appointment of seasoned biotech executives Debra Barker MD as Senior Independent Director and Andrew Smith as Non-Executive Director
• Demonstrated agile approach to capital deployment in highly volatile market conditions, by limiting capital deployment in unlisted companies and conserving cash
• Diversified investment strategy with capital deployment pivoted towards public opportunities and a focus on the Public Opportunities Portfolio for value
• Tassos Konstantinou will join Arix’s investment team as Managing Director following the departure of Mark Chin, who has left the Company to pursue other business opportunities
• Continued disciplined approach to portfolio management with exits from legacy public positions Autolus, LogicBio, and Pyxis, generating aggregate proceeds of £7.7 million

Portfolio highlights

• Portfolio companies are collectively running 11 clinical trials and conducting 9 pre-clinical studies, providing Arix with multiple opportunities for value creation
• Disc started Phase 2 studies of bitopertin in patients with erythropoietic protoporphyria and X-linked protoporphyria respectively
• Artios initiated a Phase 2 clinical trial with Pol0 inhibitor, ART4215, in combination with Pfizer’s PARP inhibitor talazoparib in patients with BRCA deficient breast cancer
• Aura Biosciences presented positive interim data from its Phase 2 trial evaluating suprachoroidal administration of AU-011 for the treatment of early-stage choroidal melanoma, showing encouraging efficacy and safety
• Harpoon Therapeutics presented interim data from the ongoing clinical trial of HPN328 demonstrating clinical activity and a favourable safety profile in solid tumour patients
• Well-funded portfolio entering into 2023, with Aura and Disc Medicine collectively raising $133.9 million on the public markets in the second half of 2022
• Disc completed a merger with Gemini Therapeutics to create a NASDAQ-listed company with sufficient financing to take it through upcoming clinical data readouts

Post-Period end

• $85 million financing co-led by Arix for Ensoma along with acquisition of Twelve Bio to create best-in-class engineered cell therapy platform
• Disc Medicine announced $62.5 million financing led by Bain Capital to advance its portfolio of novel haematology programmes
• Arix participated in a $25m private placement round with a £2.8 million ($3.5m) investment in redeemable preferred stock to continue to support Harpoon with its ongoing clinical trials

Outlook

• The Company maintains a selective approach to capital deployment as it works on achieving significant exits in the portfolio
• Careful portfolio adjustments to continue while bio-pharmaceutical sector headwinds persist, with many constituent companies remaining well-funded through 2023
• With signs that M&A activity is returning to the sector, Arix is well-placed to generate superior returns through its diverse portfolio

Robert Lyne, CEO of Arix, commented:

“As for many, 2022 proved more challenging than we had hoped at the start of the year. Markets were performing worse in the fourth quarter than in the same period in 2021 when life sciences stocks first began a steep fall. In the ensuing market correction, we are seeing a more conservative environment and a flight to quality, with the market oriented more towards value.

“Despite these uncertain times, the factors driving growth in the pharmaceutical industry remain unchanged: an ageing population, a rising prevalence of chronic conditions, and an increasing per capita spend on healthcare in developed and emerging markets underscore the inherent value that the sector has to offer.

“For investors such as Arix, unlocking this value requires recovery in the biotechnology sector markets and an increase in licensing and M&A activity. We are confident that the fundamentals will play through when the macro challenges are no longer weighing as heavily on the markets.”

Analyst Briefing: 10:00am BST today, Tuesday 25 April 2023

Management will host a virtual briefing for Analysts at 10:00am BST today. Analysts wishing to join should register their interest by contacting Powerscourt on arix@powerscourt-group.com or on +44 (0)20 7290 1050.

Investor Presentation: 4:00pm BST today, Tuesday 25 April 2023

Management will be hosting a live presentation and Q&A session via the online platform, Investor Meet Company, at 4:00pm BST today.

The presentation is open to analysts and all existing and potential shareholders. Questions can be submitted pre-event via the Investor Meet Company dashboard or at any time during the live presentation via the "Ask a Question" function.

Investors can sign up to Investor Meet Company for free via: https://www.investormeetcompany.com/arix-bioscience-plc/register-investor

Investors who already follow Arix on the Investor Meet Company platform will automatically receive an invitation to the event.

Annual General Meeting

The following documents have today been posted or otherwise made available to shareholders by the Company:

1. Form of Proxy 
2. Notice of 2023 Annual General Meeting
3. Annual Report and Accounts 2022

The Form of Proxy is publicly available on the Company's website:

https://arixbioscience.com/investor-relations/document-library

The Annual Report and Notice of AGM is also publicly available on the Company’s website:

https://arixbioscience.com/investor-relations/document-library

Copies of the above documents have been submitted to the UK National Storage Mechanism. The documents will therefore shortly be available for inspection at https://data.fca.org.uk/#/nsm/nationalstoragemechanism and at the following address:

Arix Bioscience Plc

Duke Street House,

50 Duke Street,

London,

W1K 6JL,

United Kingdom