3 October 2024
Syncona
Limited
Resolution Therapeutics raises £63.5 million in Series B
financing and appoints new Chair
· Syncona's £63.5 million Series B commitment will be used by
Resolution to progress the company and advance its lead candidate,
RTX001 in end-stage liver disease
· RTX001
is expected to enter the clinic in Q4 CY2024, with the company
funded to deliver a Phase I/II data readout anticipated in CY2026,
a key value inflection point for the company
· Following the Series B first tranche investment of £22.0
million[1], Syncona's
holding value of Resolution is now £63.6 million[2]
· On
drawdown of the full Series B financing, Syncona's ownership stake
will be 82.6 per cent
· Resolution appoints Paul Sekhri as Chair, bringing decades of
drug development and extensive business development experience to
the Board
Syncona Ltd, ("Syncona" or the
"Company"), a leading life science investor focused on creating,
building and scaling a portfolio of global leaders in life science,
today announces that it has committed £63.5 million in a Series B
financing of Resolution Therapeutics ("Resolution"), a portfolio
company focused on unlocking the regenerative potential of
macrophage therapy for the treatment of inflammatory and fibrotic
diseases. Syncona has invested an initial tranche of £22.0
million1, with investment of the full Series B
commitment tranched upon the completion of key
milestones.
Alongside this investment,
Resolution has appointed Paul Sekhri as Chair of Resolution's Board
of Directors. From a career in life sciences spanning over 35
years, Paul brings a wealth of relevant industry experience to
Resolution that will support its future growth, with particular
expertise in drug development, business development and delivering
successful financing strategies. He is currently President and CEO
of vTv Therapeutics and was previously President and CEO of
eGenesis and Lycera Corp. Paul has significant senior management,
executive and non-executive experience, having worked across
biotechnology and large corporate pharmaceutical companies, as well
as private equity and venture capital firms.
Launched by Syncona in 2020,
Resolution is targeting end-stage liver disease (ESLD), a severe
form of liver failure, where a lack of effective therapeutic
options means that patients often require liver transplantation and
often die as a consequence of the disease. To date, the company has
published proof-of-principle data from the academic MATCH II study
on the use of macrophage cell therapy in ESLD. Based on the
strength of this data, Resolution is now focused on advancing its
lead candidate, RTX001, an enhanced, next-generation macrophage
cell therapy with first-in-class potential for ESLD.
Use of proceeds from the Series B
financing will support the clinical entry and development of
RTX001, with a Phase I/II trial expected to start in Q4 CY2024.
Following this financing, Resolution is funded to deliver data from
this trial, anticipated in CY2026, a key value inflection point
with the potential to drive significant NAV growth for Syncona.
Proceeds will also be used to develop the company's manufacturing
platform, expand the pre-clinical pipeline, and further strengthen
the management team, following several key recent appointments,
including Dr Amir Hefni as CEO, Simon Ramsden as CFO and Dr
Clifford A. Brass as CMO.
The Series B financing brings the
total amount raised by Resolution to £101.4
million[3]. Following the
drawdown of the full Series B financing, Syncona's ownership stake
in Resolution will be 82.6 per cent. Including the drawdown of the
first tranche of investment of £22.0 million, Syncona's holding
value of Resolution is now £63.6 million. Following the financing,
Syncona Investment Partner Gonzalo Garcia has joined Resolution's
Board of Directors, joining Managing Partner Edward
Hodgkin.
Edward Hodgkin, Managing Partner of Syncona Investment
Management Limited and Non-Executive Director of Resolution,
said: "The data that Resolution has
generated to date in this emerging area of medicine is encouraging
and, in our view, demonstrates the potential that macrophages have
in treating end-stage liver disease. This is a potential
first-in-class product being developed for a disease where patients
have no effective therapeutic options and typically face a liver
transplant or further deterioration of their condition, which is
often fatal. We are delighted to continue to support Resolution
with our commitment to its Series B financing, in-line with
Syncona's focus on allocating capital to clinical-stage assets and
assets approaching clinical entry. We are also very pleased to
welcome to Resolution Paul Sekhri, who brings a demonstrable track
record in supporting companies through the development cycle and
will act as a valuable sounding board for the company's growing
executive team."
Amir Hefni, Chief Executive Officer of Resolution,
said: "As we prepare to advance
RTX001, our lead investigational macrophage therapy with
first-in-class potential for the treatment of end-stage liver
disease, into the clinic this year, we are grateful for Syncona's
continued support. In addition, we are pleased to welcome Paul
Sekhri to our Board of Directors. Paul brings a wealth of
experience leading top-tier companies to develop breakthrough
medicines, including novel treatments for patients with autoimmune
disease. The team and I look forward to working with Paul to bring
novel macrophage therapies, like RTX001, to patients in
need."
Paul Sekhri, Chair of Resolution, said:
"I am delighted to join Resolution at such an
exciting time as it prepares to enter the clinic with RTX001 and
expand pipeline efforts into new indications where significant
unmet patient need exists. I look forward to collaborating with
Amir, the entire Resolution team and supporting the company as it
expands its leadership in macrophage therapy."
[ENDS]
Enquiries
Syncona Ltd
Natalie Garland-Collins / Fergus
Witt
Tel: +44 (0) 20 3981 7912
FTI
Consulting
Ben Atwell / 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 creating, building and
scaling companies to deliver transformational treatments to
patients in areas of high unmet need.
We aim to build and maintain a
diversified portfolio of 20-25 globally leading life science
businesses, across development stage, modality and therapeutic
area, for the benefit of all our stakeholders. We focus on
developing treatments that deliver patient impact by working in
close partnership with world-class academic founders and
experienced 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.
Syncona Limited seeks to achieve returns over the long term.
Investors should seek to ensure they understand the risks and
opportunities of an investment in Syncona Limited, including the
information in our published documentation, before
investing.
About Resolution Therapeutics
Resolution Therapeutics is a
biopharmaceutical company focused on unlocking the regenerative
potential of macrophage therapy for the treatment of inflammatory
and fibrotic diseases. T. The Company leverages its proprietary
cell characterization and engineering platform to develop
autologous macrophages with distinct pro-regenerative properties
for superior patient outcomes across the spectrum of inflammatory
and fibrotic diseases. Resolution's initial focus is on developing
RTX001, its lead product candidate with first-in-class potential
supported by preclinical data demonstrating anti-fibrotic and
anti-inflammatory advantages relative to non-engineered
macrophages, for patients diagnosed with end-stage liver disease.
The Company is also advancing efforts to expand the potential of
its platform into indications beyond liver disease where engineered
macrophages have therapeutic potential. Resolution Therapeutics is
based in Edinburgh and London.
