REG - Oncimmune Hldgs PLC - Update on Strategy & Changes to the Board

Oncimmune HoldingsAnnouncement

12/10/2023 07:00

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RNS Number : 8550P  Oncimmune Holdings PLC  12 October 2023

12 OCTOBER 2023

 

Oncimmune Holdings plc

 

("Oncimmune" or the "Company")

 

Update on strategy

 

Changes to the Board

 

Oncimmune Holdings plc (AIM: ONC.L), a leading autoantibody profiling company
to the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry, is pleased to announce an
update on its strategy and further changes to its board of directors.

 

Strategy update

 

As previously announced, Oncimmune has recently appointed a new executive
leadership team, with Martin Gouldstone joining the Company as Chief Executive
Officer on 1 August 2023 and Martin Hudson joining as Finance Director on 4
September 2023.  Ron Kirschner, who was acting Chief Executive Officer (and
prior to that General Counsel and Company Secretary), became Oncimmune's Chief
Operating Officer.  The new team has completed its initial assessment of the
Company's strategic positioning, following the disposal of Oncimmune Limited
in May, and Oncimmune is therefore now providing stakeholders with the
following update on its vision and strategic priorities.  The new team is
looking forward to discussing its vision and strategy with the Company's
stakeholders in the coming weeks.

 

Since acquiring its immuno-profiling business in March 2019, Oncimmune has
built a flexible multiplexing technology platform, capable of processing tens
of thousands of samples per year, with a library of more than 9,000 antigens
which have been validated for use on its platform (some of which are
proprietary to Oncimmune) and a deep understanding of specific disease areas,
backed by academic publications and intellectual property.  Oncimmune has
worked for seven of the top fifteen global pharma companies and has become a
qualified supplier with several long-term master services agreements in place,
generating repeat business.  To date, Oncimmune has been primarily focused on
the growing fields of immuno-oncology, autoimmune disease and infectious
diseases (including Covid), though its technology can be applied to other
disease areas and to more general biomarker discovery and prediction of
adverse events.

 

The capacity and capabilities which have been built over the last two years
mean that Oncimmune can now focus on higher value customers, penetrating key
accounts, partnering with key technology suppliers and launching new tools in
FY2024, without the need for material further capex.  In addition, and
following consultation with existing and new prospective partners and
customers, Oncimmune intends to:

 

·    Accelerate new commercial contracts through strategic partnerships
with both translational medicine Contract Research Organisations (CROs)
focused on discovery and pre-clinical projects, and traditional clinical
CROs.  This should enable Oncimmune to reach through to a wider customer base
beyond its existing commercial infrastructure.

 

·    Leverage its scientific capabilities in auto-antibody analysis across
new areas such as adverse event prognostics in immuno-oncology therapeutics,
and companion diagnostics. Oncimmune will also explore new indication areas in
Central Nervous System disorders and diabetes.

 

·    Expand its business models beyond price-per-sample to more strategic
partnership models, similar to the long-term relationship it has with Freenome
Holdings, Inc., as well as co-development projects with upfront project and
milestone success fees with a pricing model based on the value being delivered
by Oncimmune.

 

·    Augment and grow its commercial team.  Key hires have already been
made in Europe and the US, with further expansion planned in the short and
medium term.

 

Martin Gouldstone, Oncimmune's Chief Executive Officer, said:

 

"In my first couple of months with the Company I have had the pleasure of
meeting with a number of our current and potential customers, as well as some
of our wider stakeholders, and have been very pleased to see our technological
offering and customer service has been so well received.  I believe that our
new strategic approach, which encompasses CRO partnerships, the extension of
our world class technology into new scientific areas and the use of new
commercial models, will help us to drive growth in FY2024 and beyond,
following a tough FY2023."

 

Board changes

 

In order to align with Oncimmune's new focus on its ImmunoINSIGHTS business,
having disposed of its early cancer diagnostic business in May 2023, the
composition of Oncimmune's board of directors (the "Board") is undergoing
further change.  Tim Bunting, who has been a director of Oncimmune since
2016, has stepped down from the Board with immediate effect.  Tim was one of
Oncimmune's earliest investors and continued to support it for over 15 years,
many of them as a non-executive director.  Tim remains a major shareholder of
Oncimmune, having supported its latest fundraise in December 2022, and has
given his full backing to the Company's new management team.

 

Dr Annalisa Jenkins has also decided to step down from the Board by the end of
2023.  Annalisa has been a director of Oncimmune since January 2018 and has
served as the Company's Senior Independent Director and Chair of its
Remuneration Committee.  To replace Dr Annalisa Jenkins, Oncimmune is pleased
to announce the appointment of Sally Waterman.  Sally has over 30 years of
strategic and operational experience in the life science industry, including
leading R&D and extensive involvement in M&A, and has worked for large
pharma, small biotech/biopharma and contract service companies.

 

Once all of the changes set out above are completed, and following the
departure of Andrew Unitt as previously announced on 12 July 2023, the Board
will consist of Alistair Macdonald (Non-executive Chair), Dr Sally Waterman
(Senior Independent Non-executive Director and Chair of the Remuneration
Committee), John Goold (Independent Non-executive Director and Chair of the
Audit Committee) and Martin Gouldstone (Chief Executive Officer).

 

Tim Bunting said:

 

"I am grateful to have had the opportunity to support Oncimmune and the world
class life science technology it has developed, from early cancer diagnostic
to biomarker discovery.  With the transition of Oncimmune's leadership and
focus now complete, I feel it is the right time for me to step down from the
board. I am fully supportive of Oncimmune's new strategy, and look forward to
seeing it executed successfully."

 

Annalisa Jenkins said:

 

"In my more than five years with Oncimmune I have had the pleasure of seeing
it transform from a single asset diagnostic business to a leading scientific
platform which plays an important part in the future of personalised
medicine.  The Company now has a strong new leadership team which I am
confident are capable of making the platform a commercial success."

 

Alistair Macdonald, Oncimmune's Chairperson, said:

 

"I would like to offer my sincere thanks to both Tim and Annalisa for their
long and steadfast support of Oncimmune over many years.  I am delighted to
welcome Sally to our board and look forward to working closely with her, as we
continue to drive a stronger commercial agenda."

 

Financial results for FY2023

 

The audit process for the Company's financial results for the 12 months ended
31 August 2023 ("FY2023") is ongoing and the final results will be released in
due course.  As announced on 22 May 2023, during FY2023 the Company disposed
of its subsidiaries, Oncimmune Limited (including the CE-marked IVD EarlyCDT®
Lung blood test, antibody platform and research and development pipeline) and
Oncimmune Europe GmbH, to Freenome Holdings, Inc.  The Company's financial
statements for FY2023 will therefore include results for its EarlyCDT
business, which has been disposed of during the year.

 

 

For further information:

contact@oncimmune.co.uk (mailto:contact@oncimmune.co.uk)

 

Singer Capital Markets (Nominated Adviser and Broker)

Phil Davies, Harry Gooden, James Fischer

+44 (0)20 7496 3000

 

Zeus (Joint Broker)

Dominic King, Victoria Ayton, Dan Bate

+44 (0)20 3829 5000

+44 (0)20 3727 1000

 

About Oncimmune

 

Oncimmune is a global leader in immune biomarkers and immunodiagnostics,
offering autoantibody biomarker profiling in immunooncology, autoimmune and
infectious diseases. Through its ImmunoINSIGHTS™ technology platform, the
Company provides insights and analytics to discover and validate novel
biomarkers, improve treatment responses and adverse event (irAE) prediction,
patient screening and diagnostic accuracy.

Oncimmune is headquartered in the UK, with its discovery and development
facility based in Dortmund, Germany and a business development team based in
the US and Europe.

 

For more information, visit www.oncimmune.com (http://www.oncimmune.com)

 

Regulatory Disclosures

The following information regarding the appointment of Sally Christina
Waterman, aged 65, is disclosed under Schedule 2(g) of the AIM Rules for
Companies:

 Current Directorships       Previous Directorships

(within the last five years)
 Cumulus Oncology Ltd        Medherant Limited

 Magnitude Biosciences Ltd   OBN (UK) Ltd

 Reading Hydro CBS Ltd       Tri2o Triathlon Club Ltd

 

As at the date of this announcement, Sally Waterman does not hold any shares
in the Company.

Save as set out above there are no further disclosures pursuant to Rule 17 or
Schedule Two paragraph (g) of the AIM Rules for Companies in respect of the
appointment of Sally Waterman.

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