Arix Bioscience notes Harpoon Therapeutics' immuno-oncology collaboration with AbbVie

Arix Bioscience notes Harpoon Therapeutics' immuno-oncology collaboration with AbbVie

LONDON, 18 October 2017: Arix Bioscience plc (LSE: ARIX) ("Arix Bioscience"), a global healthcare and life science company supporting medical innovation, is pleased to note that Harpoon Therapeutics ("Harpoon"), an Arix Bioscience Group Business, and AbbVie (NYSE: ABBV) have entered into an immune-oncology research collaboration.

The goal of the research collaboration is to incorporate Harpoon's novel tri-specific T-cell activating construct (TriTAC(TM)) platform with AbbVie's research-stage immune-oncology targets to develop innovative cancer therapies.

Under the terms of the agreement, Harpoon will engineer and evaluate TriTAC molecules directed against selected cancer targets, and provide AbbVie the right to pursue further development and commercialisation of these molecules. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Joe Anderson, Chief Executive Officer of Arix Bioscience, commented: "The collaboration with AbbVie is encouraging validation of Harpoon's novel T-cell engaging platform approach. This further reinforces our belief in the potential of Harpoon to discover and develop important new therapies to fight cancer."

For more information, please contact:

Arix Bioscience plc
Joe Anderson, CEO
+44 (0) 20 7290 1052

Matthew Cole, Communications Director
+44 (0) 20 7290 1065

Consilium Strategic Communications
Mary-Jane Elliott, Jessica Hodgson, Ivar Milligan
+44 (0)20 3709 5700
[email protected]

About Arix Bioscience plc
Arix Bioscience plc is a global healthcare and life science company supporting medical innovation. Headquartered in London and with an office in New York, Arix Bioscience sources, finances and builds world class healthcare and life science businesses addressing medical innovation at all stages of development. Operations are supported by privileged access to breakthrough academic science and strategic relationships with leading research accelerators and global pharmaceutical companies.

Arix Bioscience plc is listed on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange.

For further information, please visit www.arixbioscience.com.

About Harpoon Therapeutics

Harpoon Therapeutics is an immuno-oncology company founded by Patrick Baeuerle, PhD, a pioneer in the development of T-cell engaging therapies, and MPM Capital. The company is focused on the discovery and development of novel T-cell engaging biologics for the treatment of cancer and other diseases. Harpoon Therapeutics created a novel T-cell recruiting drug discovery platform called TriTAC (tri-specific T-cell activating construct) to unleash the targeted cell-killing properties of a patient's own immune system through T-cell activation. This approach is being optimized to penetrate tissues and extend serum exposure, and has the potential to address a broad range of cancers, including solid tumors, and immunologic diseases. HPN424, a prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA)-targeting TriTAC biologic, is in development for the treatment of prostate cancer and is expected to enter a clinical trial in 2018. For more information, please visit www.harpoontx.com.

About AbbVie
AbbVie is a global, research-driven biopharmaceutical company committed to developing innovative advanced therapies for some of the world's most complex and critical conditions. The company's mission is to use its expertise, dedicated people and unique approach to innovation to markedly improve treatments across four primary therapeutic areas: immunology, oncology, virology and neuroscience.  In more than 75 countries, AbbVie employees are working every day to advance health solutions for people around the world. For more information about AbbVie, please visit us at www.abbvie.com. Follow @abbvie on Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn.