Aravax commences Phase 2 in peanut allergy with $20m Series B from Brandon Capital and Tenmile
20 December 2022, Melbourne, AUSTRALIA: Aravax, a clinical stage biotechnology company
developing the first safe, convenient, and precisely targeted immunotherapeutic for peanut allergy
(PVX108), today announces it has commenced its series B funding round with an investment of
US$20m from leading Australian life science investors, Brandon Capital and Tenmile. The funding will
enable Aravax to initiate Phase 2 trials of PVX108 while it looks to raise further capital to accelerate
the development program.
Peanut allergy affects 1-2 per cent of the global population but is greatly underserved by the current
approved treatment options which use natural extracts from peanuts. These therapies need to be
administered every day, indefinitely, and require onerous precautions to manage the risk of
treatment-induced systemic reactions.
Aravax’s PVX108 is a novel and highly differentiated specific pharmacotherapy developed using the
company’s platform technology. It does not contain peanut proteins which put patients at risk of
serious side effects. It is designed to precisely retrain the immune system to tolerate peanut
allergens, and requires monthly, rather than daily dosing.
“We warmly welcome Tenmile to the team, alongside long-term supporters Brandon Capital. The
support from our industry-leading investors is a great show of confidence as we progress PVX108
into Phase 2 development. PVX108 has revolutionary potential because we have engineered out the
safety risks associated with current approaches. Furthermore, the precise action of PVX108 affords a
vaccine-like dosing regimen which is expected to be more convenient than the daily dosing required
for other therapies, likely resulting in better adherence,” said Dr Pascal Hickey, CEO, Aravax.
Aravax has received a green light for its Investigational New Drug (IND) application from the U.S.
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and has a Clinical Trial Notification in place with Australia’s
Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA). This allows Aravax to progress the Phase 2 clinical trial
program at clinical trial centres in the U.S. and Australia. The trial will soon be initiated at several
experienced allergy clinics, and further incoming capital will be used to expand the study and
accelerate development work towards Phase 3.
“Aravax will have our continued support as it progresses into Phase 2 trials and beyond. Witnessing
the positive data from pre-clinical studies and Phase 1, we’re excited about the potential of the
therapy in creating a safer, more convenient treatment for people with peanut allergies,” said Dr
Chris Smith, Partner at Brandon Capital.
Tenmile’s Executive Chair, Dr Steve Burnell, said the investment would help Aravax continue its
important work to commercialise PVX108.
“This novel peptide immunology for treating peanut allergy addresses a large, unmet medical need
and has the potential to reduce the risk of life-threatening allergic reactions for the millions of
people across the world who live with this condition. We are particularly excited about Aravax’s
novel platform technology which has potential application against other allergens,” said Dr Burnell.
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