Dimerix builds cash buffer as second kidney drug moves toward trials

Everest payment lifts Dimerix cash balance

Dimerix Limited (ASX:DXB) finished the September quarter with A$34.8 million in cash, up from A$16.2 million three months earlier, after receiving a A$14.1 million upfront payment from Everest Medicines and drawing A$16.7 million under a non-dilutive funding facility.

The Everest payment came under the company’s fifth regional licensing agreement for DMX-200. Dimerix said its five agreements have now generated more than A$80 million in upfront payments, with approximately A$1.9 billion in potential milestone payments still attached to the deals, alongside royalties on net sales. Those milestones remain contingent rather than guaranteed. The Everest agreement was previously reported as a US$10 million Everest payment covering selected Asian markets.

Funding provides runway but carries repayment obligations

The company’s A$34 million funding facility is not equity capital, but it is not cost-free. It carries interest at 10% a year, compounds annually, is secured over Dimerix and its operating subsidiary, and drawn amounts plus accrued interest are due for repayment by 17 January 2028. A$17.3 million remained unused at quarter-end.

Dimerix reported A$5.0 million of operating expenditure during the quarter, mainly tied to research and development, manufacturing, staff and administration. The Appendix 4C recorded a net operating cash inflow of A$9.0 million, reflecting the licensing receipt and other operating receipts, while A$7.1 million was spent on investments. The company said its funding is sufficient to complete the ACTION3 Phase 3 trial and continue advancing DMX-652.

The financing gives Dimerix more room to progress its pipeline without an immediate equity issue, although the repayment date creates a material future funding consideration. The company’s earlier A$17 million facility drawdown was intended to support both ACTION3 and DMX-652 development.

ACTION3 remains fully recruited ahead of 2028 endpoint

Dimerix’s lead program, DMX-200, remains in the treatment and follow-up phase of the ACTION3 Phase 3 study in focal segmental glomerulosclerosis. The adult cohort is fully recruited, with 333 patients randomised and dosed across 219 sites in 21 countries. The company expects the trial’s final proteinuria endpoint in the first half of 2028.

The first 100 patients have completed the two-year treatment period, while more than 90% of eligible participants have elected to continue in the Open Label Extension. One patient has now completed four years of continuous participation in the clinical program. New data presented during Kidney Week reinforced the biological rationale for DMX-200 by associating elevated CCR2 pathway activity with disease progression and adverse outcomes in FSGS, but the ACTION3 trial remains the decisive test of clinical efficacy. This follows the CCR2 inflammation findings, which supported the mechanism without demonstrating Phase 3 efficacy.

DMX-652 expands renal pipeline into acute kidney injury

Dimerix also used the quarter to build a second clinical program through its acquisition of DMX-652, a Phase 2-ready selective USP30 inhibitor being developed initially for acute kidney injury associated with cardiac surgery. The company says the indication has no approved therapies and that the program includes an open US IND, an approved Phase 2 protocol, drug product and manufacturing methods.

Since the acquisition, Dimerix has assumed sponsorship of the US IND, identified potential Phase 2 sites and secured composition-of-matter patents in territories including the US and Mexico. The company plans to initiate the Phase 2 program in 2026, with first patient dosing and an interim analysis identified as 2027 milestones. The program’s clinical value remains untested in the current filing, leaving development execution and trial data as the next substantive hurdles.