REG - Syncona Limited - Syncona invests in $56 million SwanBio Series B

SynconaAnnouncement

18/05/2022 11:15

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RNS Number : 9461L  Syncona Limited  18 May 2022

Syncona Limited

 

Syncona invests in $56 million Series B financing of SwanBio Therapeutics

 

18 May 2022

 

·   Syncona invests in SwanBio's $56 million (£45 million) Series B
financing round, committing $54 million (£44 million 1 ), alongside
investment from Mass General Brigham Ventures

·      Proceeds will primarily be used to support SwanBio's ongoing
clinical development of its lead candidate, SBT101, for adrenomyeloneuropathy
(AMN), which is expected to enter the clinic this calendar year

·   Syncona's holding value is now £96 million, following first tranche
investment of $19 million (£16 million); on drawdown of the full Series B
financing, Syncona's ownership stake in the business will be 80 per cent 2 

 

Syncona Ltd, a leading healthcare company focused on founding, building and
funding global leaders in life science, today announces that it has committed
$54 million (£44 million) in a $56 million (£45 million) Series B financing
in SwanBio Therapeutics ("SwanBio"), a gene therapy company advancing
adeno-associated vector (AAV)-based therapies for the treatment of
devastating, inherited neurological conditions. Syncona led the financing
round alongside Mass General Brigham Ventures.

 

Following the drawdown of the full Series B financing, Syncona's ownership
stake in SwanBio will be 80 per cent. Including the drawdown of the first
tranche investment of $19 million (£16 million), Syncona's holding value of
SwanBio is now £96 million.

 

SwanBio is a gene therapy company co-founded by Syncona in 2018 to develop
medicines for serious neurological diseases with significant unmet need. Its
lead candidate, SBT101, is designed to treat a rare, inherited
neurodegenerative disease affecting the spine called adrenomyeloneuropathy
(AMN). There are currently no approved treatments for AMN, which emerges in
adulthood and is characterised by a loss of mobility, incontinence, pain and
sexual dysfunction.

 

In the US and Europe, between 8,000 and 10,000 men are living with this
disease and their only option is managing its progressive and debilitating
symptoms. SwanBio's gene therapy is looking to target the underlying cause of
AMN - mutations of the ABCD1 gene - which lead to disrupted function of spinal
cord cells and other tissues.

 

This latest financing round follows an expanded $77 million Series A financing
in 2020, taking the total amount of money raised by SwanBio in its financings
to date to $133 million. The proceeds will primarily be used to support the
ongoing clinical development of SBT101, which is expected to enter the clinic
later this year through the initiation of a Phase I/II study. The company has
a pipeline of gene therapy candidates for other neurological conditions, with
a focus on spinal cord-related disorders, and is applying learnings from the
development of SBT101 to develop therapies for both monogenic and polygenic
disorders, conditions caused by single genes or the combined effect of many
genes, respectively.

 

Chris Hollowood, Chief Investment Officer of Syncona Investment Management
Limited and Chair of SwanBio said: "Since our initial investment, SwanBio has
made excellent progress, with the company rapidly advancing its lead programme
for AMN towards the clinic. In parallel, the company has built the platform
capabilities that will allow it to advance its broader pipeline of AAV gene
therapies for spinal cord-related disorders towards clinical development. We
are excited by the potential we see in this business to become a leading gene
therapy company delivering life changing treatments to patients with
debilitating neurological disorders."

 

Tom Anderson, Chief Executive Officer and Director of SwanBio said: "We are
determined in our pursuit of AAV-based therapies targeting the root cause of
disease, and are building our pipeline to develop treatments where there is a
significant unmet need. The strategic decisions we make as a company are
motivated by our drive to help those affected by neurological diseases as soon
as possible because they can't wait - and we don't want them to."

 

 ENDS 

 

Copies of this press release and other corporate information can be found on
the company website at: www.synconaltd.com (http://www.synconaltd.com)

 

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.

 

Enquiries

 

Syncona Ltd

 

Natalie Garland-Collins / Fergus Witt

Tel: +44 (0) 7714 916615

 

FTI Consulting

 

Ben Atwell / Julia Bradshaw / 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
founding and building companies to deliver transformational treatments to
patients in areas of high unmet need.

 

Our strategy is to found, build and fund companies around exceptional science
to create a diversified portfolio of 15-20 globally leading healthcare
businesses for the benefit of all our stakeholders. We focus on developing
treatments for patients by working in close partnership with world-class
academic founders and 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.

 

About SwanBio Therapeutics

 

SwanBio Therapeutics is a gene therapy company that aims to bring
life-changing treatments to people with devastating, inherited neurological
conditions. SwanBio is advancing a pipeline of gene therapies, designed to be
delivered intrathecally, that can address targets within both the central and
peripheral nervous systems. This approach has the potential to be applied
broadly across three disease classifications - spastic paraplegias, monogenic
neuropathies, and polygenic neuropathies. SwanBio's lead program is being
advanced toward clinical development for the treatment of
adrenomyeloneuropathy (AMN). For more information, visit SwanBioTx.com.

 1  FX rates at 17 May 2022. Includes previously invested convertible loan of
$24 million plus accrued interest

 2  Percentage holding reflects Syncona's ownership stake at the point full
current commitments are invested on a fully-diluted basis

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