4BIO Capital invests in Araris Biotech AG’s CHF 15.2 million seed financing round

· Dmitry Kuzmin, Managing Partner, to join as Board member

· Proceeds to support advancement of lead antibody-drug-conjugates (ADCs) into preclinical and clinical development

LONDON & BOSTON – 4BIO Capital (“4BIO” or “the Group”), an international venture capital firm focused solely on the advanced therapies sector, announces its investment in Araris Biotech AG (“Araris”), a company pioneering an antibody-drug conjugate (ADC)-linker technology. Araris announced today that it has received an additional CHF 12.7 million in its seed financing round, bringing the total amount raised to CHF 15.2 million. Dmitry Kuzmin, Managing Partner at 4BIO Capital, will join Araris’s Board as a Non-Executive Director.

The investment round was led by existing investor Pureos Bioventures with the participation of new investors including 4BIO Capital, b-to-v Partners and existing investors Redalpine, VI Partners and Schroder Adveq. The proceeds will be used to nominate a clinical candidate and advance Araris’ lead program into preclinical and clinical development. The new funds will also support the development of a broad proprietary pipeline of ADC compounds.

Dmitry Kuzmin, Managing Partner at 4BIO Capital, said: “We are excited to be investing at this early stage of what we expect to be an exciting future for Araris. Its pioneering technology, enabling fast and precise production of ADCs, is highly innovative and we believe has huge potential to bring enhanced therapies to patients across the globe.”

Dr. Philipp Spycher, CEO and Co-Founder of Araris, said: “We see this funding as a very strong validation of our company, lead programs and the Araris linker platform. It will allow us to advance our lead program to the next stage of development, and progress our preclinical pipeline towards the clinic. We are pleased to have further strengthened our investor base so significantly with such a renowned group of investors, all of whom have a proven track record of supporting emerging companies. The quality of the investors reflects the quality of the science, the product candidates and the entire team at Araris Biotech.”