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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