Arix buys small chunk of Australia's Pharmaxis

The London-listed firm said the AUD 24m (£13.4m) primary placing was led by Arix Bioscience, and included participation from existing investors BVF Partners, supported by other existing shareholders.

Arix invested AUD 14.2m in a two-tranche placement, and following shareholder approval of the second tranche, would hold around 11% of the total outstanding shares of Pharmaxis.

The Pharmaxis board had approved the nomination of Arix’s Edward Rayner to join it at the extraordinary general meeting in September.

“We are very pleased to have led Pharmaxis’ successful financing as it continues to build its position as a world leader in mechanism-based inhibitors of amine oxidases for patients suffering from fibrotic and inflammatory diseases,” said Arix chief executive officer Joe Anderson.

“This is the first investment in a public company that Arix has led and reflects our flexibility and commitment to providing capital to innovative companies with strong leadership teams.

“We see a number of opportunities to help build high value companies through our VIPE strategy.”

In addition, Anderson said it was Arix’s first investment in a company based in Australia, which he said demonstrated its “growing global reach” where the board saw a “rich landscape” of science and companies.

“We look forward to supporting Pharmaxis’ ambitious and internationally-experienced management team in developing these potentially first-in-class treatments for patients while we continue to build value for our shareholders.”