27 December 2024
Syncona
Limited
Achilles
announces sale of technology assets to AstraZeneca
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,
notes that its investment Achilles Therapeutics ("Achilles") has
announced the sale of technology assets to AstraZeneca. Completion
of this transaction signals the conclusion of the strategic review
which was announced in September 2024. Key details of the
transaction include:
· Transferring
of the commercial license of data and samples from the TRACERx®
non-small cell lung cancer study[1]
to AstraZeneca
·
AstraZeneca will also take over as
sponsor of Achilles' Material Acquisition
Platform[2], and
receive tumour samples and data collected thus far
· AstraZeneca has agreed to pay Achilles $12 million for the
assets in total
Achilles now plans to undertake
additional measures, including a further reduction in employee
headcount and a decrease in the size of its Board of
Directors.
As of 30 September 2024, Syncona's
holding value in Achilles was £8.5 million, equating to 0.7% of
Syncona's Net Asset Value.
Achilles' announcement is copied
below and can be accessed on the company's website at
https://achillestx.com/.
[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.
Achilles Therapeutics
Announces Sale of Technology Assets to
AstraZeneca
-
Proprietary data and samples from TRACERx and Achilles' Material
Acquisition Platform (MAP) will be transferred to AstraZeneca under
the Transaction -
-
Conclusion of Strategic Review -
London, UK 24 December 2024 -
Achilles Therapeutics plc (NASDAQ: ACHL) today announced that it
has transferred the commercial license of data and samples from the
TRACERx® Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) study to AstraZeneca
(LSE/STO/Nasdaq: AZN). TRACERx (TRAcking Cancer Evolution through
therapy (Rx)), led by Professor Charles
Swanton at University College London (UCL), UK, is one of
the largest tumor evolution studies to generate deep sequencing
multi-region and multi-time-point genetic data from over 3,200
tumor samples from over 800 lung cancer patients. As part of the
transaction, AstraZeneca will also take over as sponsor of
Achilles' Material Acquisition Platform (MAP), and receive tumor
samples and data collected thus far. MAP is a proprietary network
that has collected donor tumor tissue and blood from nearly 300
cancer patients undergoing standard-of-care cancer surgery across
multiple solid tumor indications, including lung, melanoma, head
and neck, renal, bladder, and breast.
"We are pleased that as a leader in
Oncology, AstraZeneca recognizes the scientific value of our
TRACERx and MAP assets," said Dr Iraj Ali, CEO of Achilles
Therapeutics. "We believe that these assets have the potential to
positively impact Oncology R&D and will support the development
of new and improved therapies for cancer patients."
AstraZeneca has agreed to pay
Achilles Therapeutics $12M for the assets in total.
BofA Securities provided strategic
financial advice to Achilles for the transaction. Completion of
this transaction signals the conclusion of Achilles' strategic
review which was announced in September 2024. Achilles now
plans to undertake additional measures, including a further
reduction in employee headcount and a decrease in the size of its
Board of Directors, while remaining compliant with Nasdaq and SEC
requirements.
About Achilles Therapeutics
Achilles is a clinical-stage
biopharmaceutical company that has been developing AI-powered
precision T cell therapies targeting clonal neoantigens: protein
markers unique to the individual that are expressed on the surface
of every cancer cell. Achilles has used DNA sequencing data from
each patient, together with its proprietary PELEUSTM
bioinformatics platform, to identify clonal neoantigens specific to
that patient, to enable and support development of product
candidates specifically targeting those clonal
neoantigens.
About TRACERx
TRACERx (TRAcking Cancer Evolution
through therapy (Rx)), led by Professor Charles
Swanton at UCL, is one of the largest tumor evolution
studies to generate deep sequencing multi-region and multi-time
point genetic data from over 3,200 tumor samples from over 800 lung
cancer patients. TRACERx has transformed the understanding of tumor
evolution and has convincingly shown that tumors originate from a
single cell that evolves in a Darwinian manner and the early
(clonal) mutations are preserved in all subsequent primary and
metastatic tumor cells. The study, which has generated numerous
publications, uncovered important mechanisms of cancer evolution
and immune evasion by analyzing genetic signatures in lung tumors
and tracking how they evolve over time from diagnosis through to
relapse. These findings provide the ability to identify a novel
class of tumor markers called clonal neoantigens that are present
on all tumor cells yet absent from healthy tissue, making them
ideal cancer targets. TRACERx represents the largest investment in
lung cancer research by Cancer Research UK.
Forward Looking Statements
This press release contains express
or implied forward-looking statements that are based on the Company
management's belief and assumptions and on information currently
available to the Company's management. Forward-looking statements
in this press release include, but are not limited to, statements
regarding the Company's clinical trials and the Company's beliefs
about its goals for the discontinued
trials; expectations related to the Company's cash
runway and operating expenses and capital expense
requirements; the Company's ability to
engage with third parties who are developing alternative modalities
to target clonal neoantigens for the treatment of cancers
and the Company's review
and evaluation of potential strategic options and their impact on
stockholder value. Although the Company believes that the
expectations reflected in these forward-looking statements are
reasonable, these statements relate to future events or the
Company's future operational or financial performance, and involve
known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may
cause the Company's actual results, performance, or achievements to
be materially different from any future results, performance or
achievements expressed or implied by these forward-looking
statements. The forward-looking statements in this press release
represent the Company's views as of the date of this press release.
We anticipate that subsequent events and developments will cause
the Company's views to change. However, while the Company may elect
to update these forward-looking statements at some point in the
future, the Company has no current intention of doing so except to
the extent required by applicable law. You should therefore not
rely on these forward-looking statements as representing the
Company's views as of any date subsequent to the date of this press
release.
For further information, please
contact:
Meru
Advisors
Lee M.
Stern
lstern@meruadvisors.com
