Pivotal period; turning promise into delivery

LONDON, 9 March, 2021: Arix Bioscience plc (“Arix”, LSE: ARIX) a global venture capital company focused on investing in and building breakthrough biotech companies, today announces its annual results for the year ended 31 December 2020.

Financial highlights; significant increase in NAV

• Net Asset Value of £328 million (December 2019: £202 million); 242p per share (December 2019: 149p); a 62% increase during the period

• Net positive portfolio revaluation of £136 million** in the period

• Gross portfolio value (realised and unrealised): £314 million versus cost of £162 million

Proven value creation; active management and disciplined capital allocation

• £158 million cash realised during the period (2019: £4.6 million):

- Sale of VelosBio to Merck & Co (MSD) for $2.75bn delivered £139 million proceeds to Arix, representing an 11.8x return on invested capital and an IRR of 320%

• 32% IRR generated by gross portfolio since inception in 2016

• Active management of public assets to optimise returns, resulting in cash realisations of £19 million; a further £16 million realised post period end

• Disciplined approach to capital deployment and risk management demonstrated post period end, with the closing down of Quench Bio after reviewing initial pre-clinical work

Strengthened capital base and reduced cost base

• Cash of £174 million (December 2019: £55 million)
• Realised gains from VelosBio expected to be tax exempt
• Significantly reduced net operating costs by over 35%, to an annual run rate within 2.0% of NAV (down from 4.0% in 2019)
• Strong position to support the current portfolio and invest in the next wave of opportunities
• Arix has the authority to purchase up to 13,555,185 of its ordinary shares; use of cash will be kept under review

Portfolio highlights

• New portfolio company, Twelve Bio, founded. Arix has committed £3.6 million for a 49% ownership stake
• $580 million of proceeds raised by Arix portfolio companies in 2020 and an additional $245 million post period end, putting them in a strong position to execute on their important clinical development programmes. Notably, Imara transitioned to a public company in 2020, after completing an $87 million Nasdaq IPO
• Continued clinical progress in the portfolio with multiple data readouts (Aura, Amplyx, Atox Bio, Autolus, Harpoon, Imara) and new trial initiations (Amplyx, Aura, Autolus, Harpoon, Imara) during the period
• Notably, Atox Bio’s New Drug Application (NDA) was accepted by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), with a goal decision date (Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA) date) of 30 September 2021
• Artios entered into a strategic collaboration with Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany to identify and develop precision oncology medicines targeting nucleases and transitioned to a clinical stage company post period end

Outlook - Key anticipated milestones

Data generated from Arix’s clinical pipeline will be a key driver of value and while clinical development is not without risk, and the recruitment of clinical trials globally has been impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic, Arix has several portfolio companies approaching key milestones over the next 12 months. In particular, we note the following expected clinical catalysts in 2021:

• Autolus (1.6%*) expects to report Phase 1 data from a number of programmes, including: AUTO4 (Peripheral T Cell Lymphoma), AUTO3 (Diffuse Large B Cell Lymphoma), AUTO1 (Non-Hodgkin lymphoma and adult acute lymphoblastic leukemia) and initiate new clinical trials across its next generation programmes

• Aura (7.9%) expects to report Phase 2 data from ongoing clinical trials in choroidal melanoma
• Amplyx (3.0%) expects to report Phase 2 data for APX001 (candida auris and invasive aspergillosis) and MAU868 (BKV-associated nephropathy) and initiate a Phase 3 trial in invasive candidiasis (APX001)
• Artios (12.4%) expects to advance its Pol Theta programme (ART4215) into the clinic
• Atox Bio (6.4%) has been given a PDUFA date of 30 September 2021 by the FDA, which is the goal decision date on its new drug application for patients with necrotising soft tissue infection
• Harpoon (6.9%*) expects to report data from ongoing Phase 1/2a clinical trials in prostate cancer (HPN422), ovarian and pancreatic cancer (HPN536), multiple myeloma (HPN217) and small cell lung cancer (HPN328)
• LogicBio (9.1%) expects to initiate a Phase 1/2 clinical trial in methylmalonic acidemia (LB-001)
• Imara (5.8%*) expects to report data from ongoing Phase 2b clinical trials in sickle cell disease and beta thalassemia (IMR-687)

Additionally, we expect a number of financing events across the portfolio in 2021 and are currently in late-stage diligence on a new investment opportunity.

"This has been a period of outstanding achievement for our company. We have begun the journey of turning our promises to shareholders into delivery – realising £158m during the year while at the same time refocusing the portfolio, restructuring and reducing our costs and laying the foundation for the next wave of investments. The last 12 months have seen Arix’s portfolio continue to mature, passing a number of key milestones. We have achieved our first major exit, underlining the validity of our business model. We have also increased our NAV by 62% to £328m, moving us significantly closer to our year-end 2023 NAV target of £500m, that we set out in our 2020 interim results. We enter 2021 with strong momentum in our portfolio and with multiple clinical data readouts expected. In addition to clinical milestones, there is potential for M&A, strategic partnerships and other financing events across the portfolio, which could significantly increase the value of our companies, and in turn our NAV.”

Naseem Amin, Executive Chairman

*Reflects changes to ownership percentage since 31 December 2020 due to company capital raisings and/or market transactions

**Gross portfolio, including FX