TIDMSYNC
RNS Number : 0858W
Syncona Limited
16 August 2022
Syncona Limited
First Quarter Update
Continued positive momentum across maturing portfolio delivered
against a challenging macro backdrop
16 August 2022
Syncona Ltd, a leading healthcare company focused on founding,
building and funding global leaders in life science, today issues
its quarterly update covering the period from 01 April to 30 June
2022.
Martin Murphy, CEO and Chair, Syncona Investment Management
Limited, said: "We are pleased with the continued progress across
the Syncona portfolio during the quarter, with our companies
delivering on a number of operational and clinical milestones.
Our strategic capital base remains a key competitive advantage,
enabling us to continue to fund our companies through the current
market conditions, with GBP38 million of capital deployed in the
quarter, and strongly positioning us to take advantage of exciting
opportunities to found new Syncona companies.
Syncona was founded with a long-term vision and approach that
leverages our team's experience in managing life science companies
through all market cycles. We are confident that we can navigate
the current environment to deliver strong risk-adjusted returns for
our shareholders and fulfil our purpose to extend and enhance human
life."
Financial performance in the quarter
-- Net assets of GBP1,330.5 million (31 March 2022: GBP1,309.8
million), 197.9p per share (31 March 2022: 194.4p per share), a NAV
return of 1.8% in the period, driven by the positive impact of
foreign exchange across the portfolio and capital pool [1]
-- Life science portfolio valued at GBP561.8 million (31 March
2022: GBP524.9 million), a return of (0.2)% in the quarter [2]
-- The share prices of our listed holdings have continued to be
negatively impacted by market volatility. We remain confident in
the fundamentals of our companies
Portfolio remains funded to deliver on upcoming clinical
milestones in FY2022/3
-- GBP38.0 million deployed in the period; capital base of
GBP768.7 million at 30 June 2022 (31 March 2022: GBP784.9
million)
-- Capital base provides Syncona with a strategic advantage as
it looks to fund exciting new opportunities whilst supporting its
current portfolio
Continued clinical progress across our clinical stage companies
during the period
-- Anaveon announced encouraging initial clinical data in the Phase I/II study of ANV419
-- Autolus Therapeutics (Autolus) made progress across its
portfolio of candidates including in its lead programme, obe-cel in
adult acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL)
o Published positive data at the European Hematology Association
(EHA) Congress in AUTO1/22 in paediatric ALL, AUTO4 in T cell
lymphoma and obe-cel in a number of indications
o The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted Regenerative
Medicine Advanced Therapy (RMAT) designation to its lead obe-cel
programme in adult ALL which is currently advancing through a
pivotal trial
-- Achilles Therapeutics (Achilles) dosed its first patient in
its higher dose cohort for its trial in non-small cell lung cancer
(NSCLC), validating the company's updated manufacturing process
Pre-clinical companies delivering on operational plans and
progressing towards the clinic
Progress towards the clinic
-- Neogene Therapeutics (Neogene) announced the approval of its
Clinical Trial Application for the Phase I trial of its T cell
receptor therapy in solid tumours
-- SwanBio Therapeutics (SwanBio) presented preclinical data from its SBT101 programme in adrenomyeloneuropathy (AMN) which supports its dosing strategy for its upcoming Phase I/II trial
Strategic diversification in cell therapy clinical pipeline
-- Quell Therapeutics (Quell) entered a strategic collaboration
with Cellistic(TM) to develop an induced pluripotent stem cell
(iPSC) derived allogeneic T regulatory cell therapy platform,
further diversifying its potential
-- Resolution Therapeutics (Resolution) announced a research
collaboration with panCELLA enabling access to its hypo-immunogenic
iPSC technology. This technology means the company is able to
progress the development of its allogeneic macrophage programme and
expand its pipeline of cell-based therapies
Strategic balance sheet funding portfolio companies as they
scale and exciting new opportunities
-- Committed GBP15.0 million in a GBP75.5 million Series B
financing of OMass Therapeutics (OMass), alongside a globally
leading syndicate of existing and new investors, including GV,
Northpond and Sanofi Ventures
-- $53.7 million (GBP43.6 million) commitment to SwanBio in a
$55.9 million (GBP45.3 million) Series B financing
-- Commitment of $1.0 million in seed financing of Tier 1 Bio,
an early-stage biologics opportunity
Key upcoming milestones in FY2022/3
-- Autolus expects to
o Progress its pivotal study in obe-cel in r/r adult ALL, now
providing initial results in Q4 CY2022; with full data expected in
H1 CY2023
o Announce longer-term follow-up data from AUTO1/22 in
paediatric ALL and AUTO4 in peripheral T cell lymphoma in H2
CY2022
-- Achilles expects to provide initial data from the higher dose
clinical cohorts of the Phase I/IIa clinical trials of its cNeT
therapy in NSCLC and melanoma in Q4 CY2022
-- Freeline has provided updated guidance
o In the Phase I/II dose-finding trial in Fabry disease, dosing
of the second cohort and a programme update are expected in H2
CY2022
o Dosing in the Phase I/II dose-finding trial in Gaucher disease
is expected in H2 CY2022, with initial safety and efficacy data
expected to be reported in H1 CY2023
o Updated safety and efficacy data from the Phase I/II
dose-confirmation trial in haemophilia B is expected in H2 CY2022.
Freeline continues to evaluate strategic options for the
programme
-- Anaveon expects to publish further data from its Phase I/II
trial for its selective IL-2 agonist, ANV419, in H2 CY2022
-- Quell expects to dose the first patient in its lead programme, QEL-001, in H2 CY2022
-- SwanBio expects to enter the clinic with its lead SBT101 programme in AMN in H2 CY2022
-- Neogene expects to enter the clinic with its NT-125 TCR
therapy in advanced solid tumours in H1 CY2023
Valuation movements in the quarter
Company 31 Net Valuation FX 30 % of Valuation Fully Focus
Mar investment change movement Jun Group basis diluted area
2022 in the 2022 NAV ([3]) owner-ship
period (, [4]) stake
, ([5])
----------- ---------- ----------- ------- ------- ---------- ----------- ------------
(GBPm) (GBPm) (GBPm) (GBPm) (GBPm) (%)
------- ----------- ---------- ----------- ------- ------- ---------- ----------- ------------
Portfolio
Companies
------- ----------- ---------- ----------- ------- ------- ---------- ----------- ------------
Clinical
------- ----------- ---------- ----------- ------- ------- ---------- ----------- ------------
Anaveon 59.8 - - 2.5 62.3 4.7% PRI 37.9% Biologics
------- ----------- ---------- ----------- ------- ------- ---------- ----------- ------------
Cell
Autolus 62.0 - (19.9) 3.3 45.4 3.4% Quoted 18.8% therapy
------- ----------- ---------- ----------- ------- ------- ---------- ----------- ------------
Gene
Freeline 32.3 - (7.0) 2.0 27.3 2.1% Quoted 53.4% therapy
------- ----------- ---------- ----------- ------- ------- ---------- ----------- ------------
Cell
Achilles 24.8 - (3.5) 1.7 23.0 1.7% Quoted 25.3% therapy
------- ----------- ---------- ----------- ------- ------- ---------- ----------- ------------
Pre-Clinical
------- ----------- ---------- ----------- ------- ------- ---------- ----------- ------------
Gene
SwanBio 75.1 15.6 0.7 5.6 97.0 7.3% Cost 79.9% therapy
------- ----------- ---------- ----------- ------- ------- ---------- ----------- ------------
Cell
Quell 81.4 - - 6.4 87.8 6.6% PRI 37.4% therapy
------- ----------- ---------- ----------- ------- ------- ---------- ----------- ------------
Cell
Resolution 10.4 12.6 - - 23.0 1.7% Cost 81.1% therapy
------- ----------- ---------- ----------- ------- ------- ---------- ----------- ------------
Gene
Purespring 18.5 - - - 18.5 1.4% Cost 84.0% therapy
------- ----------- ---------- ----------- ------- ------- ---------- ----------- ------------
Cell
Neogene 14.5 - - 1.1 15.6 1.2% Cost 7.9% therapy
------- ----------- ---------- ----------- ------- ------- ---------- ----------- ------------
Cell
Clade 11.4 - - 1.0 12.4 0.9% Cost 22.6% therapy
------- ----------- ---------- ----------- ------- ------- ---------- ----------- ------------
Drug
discovery
------- ----------- ---------- ----------- ------- ------- ---------- ----------- ------------
Small
OMass 34.7 9.0 - - 43.7 3.3% PRI 30.9% molecule
------- ----------- ---------- ----------- ------- ------- ---------- ----------- ------------
Life Science
Investment
------- ----------- ---------- ----------- ------- ------- ---------- ----------- ------------
Gyroscope
milestone Gene
payments 49.8 - - 3.9 53.7 4.0% DCF 0.0% therapy
------- ----------- ---------- ----------- ------- ------- ---------- ----------- ------------
CRT Pioneer Adj Third
Fund 28.2 - - - 28.2 2.1% Party 64.1% Oncology
------- ----------- ---------- ----------- ------- ------- ---------- ----------- ------------
CEGX 17.3 - - 1.4 18.7 1.4% PRI 5.5% Epigenetics
------- ----------- ---------- ----------- ------- ------- ---------- ----------- ------------
Forcefield 2.5 - - - 2.5 0.2% Cost 82.0% Biologics
------- ----------- ---------- ----------- ------- ------- ---------- ----------- ------------
Cell
Adaptimmune 2.2 - (0.4) 0.1 1.9 0.1% Quoted 0.8% therapy
------- ----------- ---------- ----------- ------- ------- ---------- ----------- ------------
Tier 1 Bio - 0.8 - - 0.8 0.1% Cost 4.9% Biologics
------- ----------- ---------- ----------- ------- ------- ---------- ----------- ------------
Total Life
Science
Portfolio 524.9 38.0 (30.1) 29.0 561.8 42.2%
------- ----------- ---------- ----------- ------- ------- ---------- ----------- ------------
Enquiries
Syncona Ltd
Annabel Clark / Natalie Garland-Collins / Fergus Witt
Tel: +44 (0) 20 3981 7940
FTI Consulting
Ben Atwell / Julia Bradshaw / Tim Stamper
Tel: +44 (0) 20 3727 1000
About Syncona
Syncona's purpose is to invest to extend and enhance human life.
We do this by founding and building companies to deliver
transformational treatments to patients in areas of high unmet
need.
Our strategy is to found, build and fund companies around
exceptional science to create a diversified portfolio of 15-20
globally leading healthcare businesses for the benefit of all our
stakeholders. We focus on developing treatments for patients by
working in close partnership with world-class academic founders and
management teams. Our balance sheet underpins our strategy enabling
us to take a long-term view as we look to improve the lives of
patients with no or poor treatment options, build sustainable life
science companies and deliver strong risk-adjusted returns to
shareholders.
Forward-looking statements - this announcement contains certain
forward-looking statements with respect to the portfolio of
investments of Syncona Limited. These statements and forecasts
involve risk and uncertainty because they relate to events and
depend upon circumstances that may or may not occur in the future.
There are a number of factors that could cause actual results or
developments to differ materially from those expressed or implied
by these forward-looking statements. In particular, many companies
in the Syncona Limited portfolio are conducting scientific research
and clinical trials where the outcome is inherently uncertain and
there is significant risk of negative results or adverse events
arising. In addition, many companies in the Syncona Limited
portfolio have yet to commercialise a product and their ability to
do so may be affected by operational, commercial and other
risks.
[1] 51% of the capital pool is held in foreign denominated
currencies, predominantly US$
[2] Life science portfolio return reflects net valuation
movement in the period excluding net capital invested
[3] Primary input to fair value
[4] The basis of valuation is stated to be "Cost", this means
the primary input to fair value is capital invested (cost) which is
then calibrated in accordance with our Valuation Policy
[5] The basis of valuation is stated to be "PRI", this means the
primary input to fair value is price of recent investment which is
then calibrated in accordance with our Valuation Policy
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END
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