Artax Biopharma Announces Series B Financing Extension to Advance First-in-Class Autoimmune Disease Therapy

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., June 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Artax Biopharma, Inc., a biotechnology company focused on transforming autoimmune disease treatment, today announces the completion of an extension to its Series B financing led by Columbus Venture Partners.

AX-158 is a first-in-class, oral small molecule, immunomodulating agent in development for the treatment of autoimmune diseases. AX-158 employs a novel mechanism of action that selectively modulates, or adjusts, T cell responses that play a critical role in immune system function.  Proceeds from the financing will be used to support activities for a planned Q4 2020 filing of a Clinical Trial Application (CTA) with the United Kingdom's Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) for AX-158.

"We are pleased to welcome Columbus Venture Partners as a new investor," said Joseph Lobacki, Chief Executive Officer of Artax Biopharma. "The support of Columbus Venture Partners is a testament to the transformative potential of our science, which has the potential to address autoimmune disease without causing immunosuppression."

Javier García, Founder and Partner with Columbus Venture Partners, stated, "Columbus Venture Partners is pleased to have led the extension to this round of financing. We believe Artax's highly experienced leadership team is well positioned to deliver on a truly innovative therapeutic program."

About Immunomodulation
A healthy immune system eliminates harmful foreign pathogens, while being tolerant of self-tissues and organs.  When the immune system malfunctions, cells (T Cells) attack self-tissues and organs, causing autoimmune disease. Current autoimmune disease therapies suppress the immune system, helping to minimize these self-attacks, but also raise susceptibility to harmful foreign pathogens. Immunomodulation, the process in which the immune system reduces self-attacks while properly reacting to fight foreign pathogens, holds great potential for autoimmune disease therapies.

About Artax-158
AX-158 is a first-in-class, oral small molecule, preclinical immunomodulating agent in development for the treatment of autoimmune diseases. AX-158 employs a novel mechanism of action that selectively modulates, or adjusts, T cell responses that play a critical role in immune system function. By selectively inhibiting Nck, a protein, AX-158 selectively modulates self-directed T Cell activation which is a cause of autoimmune disease. Importantly, data suggests that AX-158 is not immunosuppressive and does not impact the immune system's ability to mount a strong response to foreign pathogens and infections. Further, AX-158's ability to modulate T cell responses allows the possibility to broadly target several autoimmune diseases, therefore potentially transforming autoimmune disease treatment.

About Artax Biopharma
Artax Biopharma is a biotechnology company transforming autoimmune disease treatment.  Artax is a life science industry leader in autoimmune disease immunomodulation science, developing an innovative small molecule approach to treat autoimmune disease that modulates the immune system to both treat autoimmune disease and allow the body to fight foreign pathogens.  The company is examining a first-in-class oral immunomodulating agent as a new way to treat multiple autoimmune diseases without causing the immune suppression commonly associated with currently available autoimmune disease therapies. For more information, please visit www.artaxbiopharma.com.

SOURCE Artax Biopharma

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