Continued positive momentum across maturing portfolio delivered against a challenging macro backdrop
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.
Key highlights include:
- Net assets of £1,330.5 million (31 March 2022: £1,309.8 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 £561.8 million (31 March 2022: £524.9 million), a return of (0.2)% in the quarter[2]
- £38.0 million deployed in the period; capital base of £768.7 million at 30 June 2022 (31 March 2022: £784.9 million), with the portfolio remaining funded to deliver on upcoming clinical milestones in FY2022/3
- Continued clinical progress across our clinical stage portfolio during the period, with Anaveon and Autolus reporting encouraging data, and Achilles dosing its first patient in its higher dose cohort for its trial in non-small cell lung cancer, validating the company's updated manufacturing process
- Syncona’s pre-clinical stage companies continue to deliver on their operational plans as they progress towards the clinic, with Neogene announcing the approval of its Clinical Trial Application for the Phase I trial of its T cell receptor therapy in solid tumours, and SwanBio presenting positive preclinical from its SBT101 programme in adrenomyeloneuropathy
- Strategic balance sheet continues to support portfolio companies as they scale whilst funding exciting new opportunities, with Series B financings at OMass and SwanBio during the period, and a commitment of $1.0 million to Tier 1 Bio, an early-stage biologics opportunity
Martin Murphy, CEO and Chair, Syncona Investment Management Limited, said: “We are pleased with the continued progress across the Syncona portfolio during the quarter, with our companies delivering on a number of operational and clinical milestones.
Our strategic capital base remains a key competitive advantage, enabling us to continue to fund our companies through the current market conditions, with £38 million of capital deployed in the quarter, and strongly positioning us to take advantage of exciting opportunities to found new Syncona companies.
Syncona was founded with a long-term vision and approach that leverages our team’s experience in managing life science companies through all market cycles. We are confident that we can navigate the current environment to deliver strong risk-adjusted returns for our shareholders and fulfil our purpose to extend and enhance human life.”
[1] 51% of the capital pool is held in foreign denominated currencies, predominantly US$
[2] Life science portfolio return reflects net valuation movement in the period excluding net capital invested