BiomX Announces Closing of the Acquisition of Adaptive Phage Therapeutics and Concurrent $50 Million Financing
Acquisition creates leading phage therapy company with an advanced pipeline that includes two Phase 2 assets, BX004 for the treatment of chronic pulmonary infections in cystic fibrosis (“CF”) patients and BX211 for the treatment of diabetic foot osteomyelitis (“DFO”)
Financing of $50 million will be used to advance the two lead product candidates through Phase 2 clinical readouts in 2025
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. and NESS ZIONA, Israel, March 18, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — BiomX Inc. (NYSE American: PHGE) (together with its subsidiaries and/or associates, “BiomX”), a clinical-stage company advancing novel natural and engineered phage therapies that target specific pathogenic bacteria, today announced the closing of its previously announced (March 6, 2024) acquisition (the “Acquisition”) of Adaptive Phage Therapeutics, Inc. (“APT”), a U.S.-based privately-held, clinical-stage biotechnology company pioneering the development of phage-based therapies to combat bacterial infections, and its previously announced $50 million private placement to certain institutional accredited investors, which was led by affiliates of Deerfield Management Company and the AMR Action Fund, and additional investors including the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, OrbiMed and Nantahala Capital.
“We are very pleased to announce the closing of the APT acquisition, which creates a leading phage company and an advanced pipeline that includes two Phase 2 assets each aimed at treating serious infections with unmet medical need,” said Jonathan Solomon, Chief Executive Officer of BiomX. “We also appreciate the continued support of leading institutional healthcare investors. Through this financing, we expect to have sufficient capital to reach multiple data readouts in CF and DFO over the next 12-24 months.”
RBC Capital Markets and Laidlaw & Company (UK) Ltd. acted as placement agents for the private placement. Haynes and Boone, LLP served as legal counsel to BiomX. Cooley LLP served as legal counsel to APT. McDermott Will & Emery LLP served as legal counsel to Deerfield Management. Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP served as legal counsel to the placement agents.
About the Acquisition and the Private Placement
The Acquisition was structured as a stock-for-stock transaction whereby all outstanding equity interests of APT were exchanged in a merger for 9,164,968 shares of BiomX common stock, 40,470 shares of Series X Preferred Stock convertible into 40,470,000 shares of BiomX common stock and warrants (“Merger Warrants”) exercisable for 2,166,497 shares of BiomX common stock. Upon the consummation of the Acquisition, a successor-in-interest of APT became a wholly-owned subsidiary of BiomX. The Merger Warrants will be exercisable at any time after the date of the receipt of BiomX stockholder approval at an exercise price of $5.00 per share and will expire on January 28, 2027.
Concurrently with the consummation of the Acquisition, BiomX consummated its private placement financing with existing and new investors to raise $50 million, in which the investors purchased (i) an aggregate of 216,417 shares of Series X Preferred Stock and (ii) warrants (“Private Placement Warrants”) to purchase up to an aggregate of 108,208,500 shares of BiomX common stock, at a combined purchase price of $231.10 per share of Series X Preferred Stock and an accompanying Private Placement Warrant to purchase 500 shares of BiomX common stock. The Private Placement Warrants will be exercisable any time after the date of the receipt of BiomX stockholder approval, at an exercise price of $0.2311 per share, and will expire on the 24-month anniversary of the initial exercisability date.
Subject to BiomX stockholder approval, each share of Series X Preferred Stock issued in the Acquisition and the private placement initially will be convertible into 1,000 shares of BiomX common stock, and subject to certain beneficial ownership limitations set by each holder not to exceed 19.99%.
In connection with the execution of the definitive merger agreement, certain stockholders of BiomX (including its directors and officers), together holding on as converted basis over 50% of the outstanding shares of common stock of BiomX, have agreed to vote their shares in favor of the conversion of the Series X Preferred Stock.
The securities sold in the private placement have not been registered under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), or applicable state securities laws, and may not be offered or sold in the United States except pursuant to an effective registration statement or an applicable exemption from the registration requirements of the Securities Act and applicable state or other jurisdictions’ securities laws. BiomX has agreed to file a registration statement (the “Resale Registration Statement”) with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) registering the resale of (i) the shares of BiomX common stock issued pursuant to the Acquisition, (ii) the shares of BiomX common stock issuable upon conversion of the Series X Preferred Stock purchased in the private placement, (iii) the shares of common stock issuable upon exercise of all warrants issued in connection with the Acquisition and the private placement, (iv) the Series X Preferred Stock issued pursuant to the Acquisition and purchased in the private placement and (v) all warrants issued in connection with the Acquisition and the private placement (collectively, the ”Resale Securities”). Additional details regarding the private placement are contained in BiomX’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the SEC on March 6, 2024.
This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of securities of BiomX in any state or other jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to the registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or jurisdiction. Any offering of the Resale Securities under the Resale Registration Statement will only be by means of a prospectus.
Additional details are available in an updated corporate presentation that can be found online at www.biomx.com.
About BX004
BiomX is developing BX004, a fixed multi-phage cocktail, for the treatment of CF patients with chronic pulmonary infections caused by P. aeruginosa, a main contributor to morbidity and mortality in patients with CF. In November 2023, BiomX announced positive topline results from Part 2 of the Phase 1b/2a study where BX004 demonstrated improvement in pulmonary function associated with a reduction in P. aeruginosa burden compared to placebo in a predefined subgroup of patients with reduced lung function1.
BiomX expects to initiate a randomized, double blind, placebo-controlled, multi-center Phase 2b study in CF patients with chronic P. aeruginosa pulmonary infections in the fourth quarter of 2024. The study is designed to enroll approximately 60 patients randomized at a 2:1 ratio to BX004 or placebo. Treatment is expected to be administered via inhalation twice daily for a duration of 8 weeks. The study is designed to monitor the safety and tolerability of BX004 and is designed to demonstrate improvement in microbiological reduction of P. aeruginosa burden and evaluation of effects on clinical parameters such as lung function measured by FEV1 and patient reported outcomes. Study results are expected in the third quarter 2025. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) has granted BX004 Fast Track designation and Orphan Drug Designation.
1 Predefined subgroup of patients with baseline ppFEV1<70%
About BX211
BX211 is a personalized phage treatment developed by APT for the treatment of DFO associated with S. aureus. The personalized phage treatment tailors a specific phage selected from a proprietary phage-bank according to the specific strain of S. aureus biopsied and isolated from each patient. DFO is a bacterial infection of the bone that usually develops from an infected foot ulcer and is a leading cause of amputation in patients with diabetes.
The ongoing randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multi-center Phase 2 study investigating the safety, tolerability, and efficacy of BX211 for subjects with DFO associated with S. aureus is expected to enroll approximately 45 subjects randomized at a 2:1 ratio to BX211 or placebo. BX211 or placebo is designed to be administered weekly, by topical and IV route at Week 1 and by the topical route only at each of Weeks 2-12. Over the 12-week treatment period, all subjects are expected to continue to be treated in accordance with standard of care which will include antibiotic treatment as appropriate. A first readout of study topline results is expected at Week 13 evaluating healing of the wound associated with osteomyelitis, followed by a second readout at Week 52 evaluating amputation rates and resolution of osteomyelitis based on X-ray, clinical assessments, and established biomarkers (ESR and CRP). These readouts are expected in the first quarter of 2025 and the first quarter of 2026, respectively.
About BiomX
BiomX is a clinical-stage company developing both natural and engineered phage cocktails designed to target and destroy bacteria in the treatment of chronic diseases. BiomX discovers and validates proprietary bacterial targets and customizes phage compositions against these targets. For more information, please visit www.biomx.com, the content of which does not form a part of this press release.