Oxurion Avoids Bankruptcy, Announces Board and Management Changes and Enters into Binding Letter of Intent with its Main Creditor Atlas

  Regulated information – Inside information

• No bankruptcy filing
• Significant reduction in Working Capital costs
• Atlas commits to fund Oxurion’s Working Capital costs (including the Preclinical GA Program) through 2024 using the existing Atlas Funding Program, under the conditions as set out below
• Intent to put in place Debt Restructuring plan
• Two new independent directors have been co-opted to the Board, and a new CEO/CFO, who will also act as an executive board member, have been appointed upon proposal of Atlas
  
  

Leuven, BELGIUM – December 28, 2023 – 9:00 PM CET – Oxurion NV (Euronext Brussels: OXUR), a biopharmaceutical company headquartered in Leuven, announced today it has avoided bankruptcy by entering into a binding letter of intent (LOI) with Atlas Special Opportunities LLC (Atlas) and an addendum to the existing subscription agreement for convertible bonds with Atlas. Pursuant to these agreements, Atlas will continue to fund Oxurion under the existing EUR 20.8 million funding program with a focus on Oxurion’s preclinical programs and monetizing its other existing assets, potentially including both THR-149 and THR-687, while at the same time Oxurion is putting in place a debt restructuring plan with Oxurion’s creditors and seeking future corporate transactions or a business combination that would be complementary to debt restructuring, all of which remains uncertain.

For the last five years, Oxurion’s preclinical program has been focused on developing innovative therapeutics to preserve the vision of elderly people suffering from Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD) generally, and Geographic Atrophy (GA) specifically. GA is an advanced form of AMD and is the leading cause of blindness worldwide - GA is estimated to affect between 5-8 million people currently and is expected to increase at a rate of 7% annually.

The market potential for GA is estimated at between USD 3-6 billion by 2028. Given this market potential, vast amounts of time and capital that have been invested to find an effective treatment for GA. Earlier this year the FDA approved the first medicine for the treatment of GA, SYFOVRE¹ (pegcetacoplan injection) from Apellis. SYFOVRE was shown in clinical trials to reduce the rate of GA lesion growth by no more than 36% with monthly IVT injections, with no significant improvement in vision, which leaves a tremendous unmet need for an effective treatment for GA. In August of this year, a second product was approved for GA, IZERVAY²(avacincaptad pegol intravitreal solution) from Iveric Bio, an Astellas company, with a similar profile to SYFOVE. Prior to the approval of IZERVAY, Iveric Bio, whose principal asset was IZERVAY, was acquired by Astellas for USD 5.9 billion, demonstrating the significant value assets for treating GA can potentially generate.