TIDMSLN
RNS Number : 4054N
Silence Therapeutics PLC
20 May 2020
THE INFORMATION CONTAINED WITHIN THIS ANNOUNCEMENT IS DEEMED BY
THE COMPANY TO CONSTITUTE INSIDE INFORMATION AS STIPULATED UNDER
THE EU MARKET ABUSE REGULATION (596/2014). UPON THE PUBLICATION OF
THE ANNOUNCEMENT VIA A REGULATORY INFORMATION SERVICE, THIS
INFORMATION IS CONSIDERED TO BE IN THE PUBLIC DOMAIN
Company Update
20 May 2020
Strengthened Leadership, Board Appointment and Strong R&D
and Corporate Progress
LONDON Silence Therapeutics plc (LON: SLN) ("Silence" or "the
Company"), a leader in the discovery, development and delivery of
novel siRNA therapeutics for the treatment of serious diseases, is
pleased today to announce a company update including a
strengthening of the leadership team and Board and progress on
R&D, business development and corporate activities.
Strengthened leadership and Board
Iain Ross has agreed to become full time Executive Chairman in
order to implement and oversee a number of key positive Company
initiatives in the near future. This appointment follows an
external search for a suitable CEO which will continue until the
optimal CEO for Silence is found.
Silence is also pleased to announce today that Dr. Giles Campion
will become an Executive Director of the Company with immediate
effect. Giles is Head of R&D and Chief Medical Officer, having
joined the Company in June 2019 and is pivotal to the R&D and
medical departments which are central to the future of Silence's
success. Giles brings a significant amount of experience to
Silence's Board having spent more than 20 years within the biotech
and pharmaceutical industry in Chief Medical Officer and R&D
roles including at Prosensa, Novartis and Albumedix.
R&D progressing on track
Under Giles' R&D leadership, Silence remains on track to
submit an IND package for its prioritised asset, SLN360, later this
year. SLN360 continues to show great promise in being able to
address increased cardiovascular risk associated with raised levels
of lipoprotein (a), which is considered to affect up to 10% of the
population [1] . For its SLN124 asset, the Company has received
from the FDA rare paediatric disease designation for
beta-thalassaemia and orphan drug designation for myelodysplastic
syndrome. Notwithstanding the constraints imposed by the COVID-19
pandemic, clinical trials with both SLN360 and SLN124 are still
planned to start this year.
Corporate and business development progress
With a view to increasing coverage and expanding the Company's
investor base, and as announced separately today, Investec has been
appointed as Nominated Adviser (NOMAD) & UK Broker.
In addition, the Company has separately today announced its
intention to submit a registration statement to the U.S. Securities
and Exchange Commission to facilitate a listing of American
Depositary Shares representing its ordinary shares on the Nasdaq
Stock Market. Rob Quinn, CFO and Barbara Ruskin, General Counsel,
who is based in the Company's New York office which opened in March
2020, will lead this initiative.
Following the recent announcement of the multi-target
AstraZeneca collaboration in March, the Company continues to hold
discussions with a number of third parties regarding possible
partnership and collaboration opportunities. Accordingly, the
Company is strengthening its Business and Alliance Management
capability under the leadership of John Strafford, VP Business
Development, with a view to accommodating an expansion of its
existing third-party relationships and, as appropriate, additional
collaborations. As announced in April, the Company continues to
produce critical reagents for COVID-19 PCR diagnostic test kits
being manufactured by TIB
Molbiol GmbH , based in Berlin.
Commenting on the announcement I ain Ross, Executive Chairman ,
said: " Since I returned to Silence last year, the Company has
advanced its innovative product pipeline, secured three validating
big pharma partnerships, significantly strengthened its cash
position and built a strong and experienced management team, which
has proven it can execute a plan. The Company is at a critical
stage of its development and I am very excited to be at the helm at
this important time.
"R&D lies at the heart of Silence and Giles' experience has
become increasingly paramount to the Company. I welcome him to our
Board and know his input will be invaluable. As a Company we
continue to monitor the potential impact of the COVID-19 pandemic
on our business as we initiate clinical trials with our lead
programmes and continue to further build out our capabilities and
competences whilst capitalising on the immediate international
interest in our Company and its proprietary RNAi programmes and
platform."
Commenting on his Executive Board Appointment, Dr. Giles Campio
n , Head of R&D and CMO, said: "I am delighted to be joining
the Silence Board at this exciting time. We are focused on
delivering life-changing and accessible medicines in areas of great
patient need and siRNA is demonstrating that it is a potent
technology to achieve that aim. Buoyed by our recent validating
platform deals, we now have the resources and scientific advisors
to realise the transformational potential of our clinical stage
assets including our lead programme, SLN360."
Director disclosures
The following information is disclosed pursuant to Schedule Two,
paragraph (g) of the AIM Rules for Companies:
Dave Lemus, Non-Executive Director
It has come to the Board's attention that at the time of the
appointment of Dave Lemus in June 2018, under his list of current
directorships, LEMAX LLC was omitted where it should have been
included. LEMAX is a sole-person LLC through which Mr Lemus
provides advisory contracting from time to time.
Giles Campion
Full name and age: Giles Victor Campion (aged 65).
Mr. Campion currently holds 10,000 ordinary shares in
Silence.
Current Directorships or Partnerships:
Savoy Consulting Services
Future Screen Partners 2005 No.3 LLP
Previous Directorships or Partnerships in the last 5 years:
Future Screen Partners No.1 LLP
Prosensa Holding N.V.
BioMarin Nederland BV
No further information in connection with his appointment is
required to be disclosed under Schedule Two, paragraph (g) of the
AIM Rules for Companies.
For more information, please contact:
Silence Therapeutics plc Tel: +44 (0)20
Iain Ross, Executive Chairman 3457 6900
Rob Quinn, Chief Financial Officer
Investec (Nominated Adviser and Broker) Tel: +44 (0) 20
Daniel Adams/Gary Clarence 7597 5970
European IR Tel: +44 (0) 20
Consilium Strategic Communications 3709 5700
Mary-Jane Elliott/Chris Welsh/Angela Gray
silencetherapeutics@consilium-comms.com
US IR Tel: +1 (443)
Westwicke 213-0505
Peter Vozzo
peter.vozzo@westwicke.com
About Silence Therapeutics plc
Silence Therapeutics is developing a new generation of medicines
by harnessing the body's natural mechanism of RNA interference, or
RNAi, within its cells. Its proprietary technology can selectively
inhibit any gene in the genome, specifically silencing the
production of disease-associated proteins. Silence's proprietary
RNA chemistries and delivery systems are designed to improve the
stability of molecules and enhance effective delivery to target
cells, providing a powerful modular technology well suited to
tackle life-threatening diseases. The Company has secured high
value research and collaboration agreements with AstraZeneca,
Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals and Takeda. For more information,
please visit: https://www.silence-therapeutics.com/
About Giles Campion
Giles, an expert in translational medicine, is a highly
experienced biotech and pharmaceutical professional, and brings
more than 30 years of experience in the industry to Silence. Most
notably he served as Chief Medical Officer and Senior Vice
President of R&D at Prosensa from 2009 to 2016, a European
biotech company advancing oligonucleotide therapies for rare
diseases, notably Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). During this
time the company signed a collaboration agreement with GSK worth up
to $655 million with double digit royalties. Prosensa went on to
list on Nasdaq in 2013, raising $90 million in an initial public
offering nine times oversubscribed, and was ultimately acquired by
Biomarin in 2015 for $680 million.
Previously, Giles held senior R&D roles at Novartis
including Therapeutic Area Head Cardiovascular and Metabolic
Disease and where he was a key member of a task force that defined
the shape of a new integrated research and development
organisation. Most recently, he served as Chief Medical Officer for
Albumedix, Advisor to Myotherix, and a co-founder of PepGen, all
companies focusing on therapies for rare diseases. At Albumedix,
his remit was to build a development portfolio based on the
company's recombinant albumin platform and his work was
instrumental in product development and an eventual financial exit
for the owners of the company.
Forward Looking Statements
Certain statements made in this announcement are forward-looking
statements including with respect to the Company's intention to
submit a registration statement to the U.S. Securities and Exchange
Commission (the "SEC") to facilitate a listing of American
Depositary Shares representing its ordinary shares on the Nasdaq
Stock Market . Any such listing remains subject to review of the
registration statement by the SEC and approval of the listing by
Nasdaq. These forward-looking statements are not historical facts
but rather are based on the Company's current expectations,
estimates, and projections about its industry; its beliefs; and
assumptions. Words such as 'anticipates,' 'expects,' 'intends,'
'plans,' 'believes,' 'seeks,' 'estimates,' and similar expressions
are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These
statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject
to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors, some
of which are beyond the Company's control, are difficult to
predict, and could cause actual results to differ materially from
those expressed or forecasted in the forward-looking statements
including if the Company's registration statement is not declared
effective by the SEC or if Nasdaq fails to approve the Company's
ADS listing application. The Company cautions securityholders and
prospective securityholders not to place undue reliance on these
forward-looking statements, which reflect the view of the Company
only as of the date of this announcement. The forward-looking
statements made in this announcement relate only to events as of
the date on which the statements are made. The Company will not
undertake any obligation to release publicly any revisions or
updates to these forward-looking statements to reflect events,
circumstances, or unanticipated events occurring after the date of
this announcement except as required by law or by any appropriate
regulatory authority.
This announcement does not constitute an offer to sell or the
solicitation of an offer to buy securities, and shall not
constitute an offer, solicitation or sale in any jurisdiction in
which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to
registration or qualification under the securities laws of that
jurisdiction.
[1] Varvel et al Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol. 2016;36:2239
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END
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