Syncona Limited - Third Quarter Update
05/02/2026 07:00
RNS Number : 7634R
Syncona Limited
05 February 2026
05 February 2026
Syncona Limited
("Syncona" or "the Company")
Third Quarter Update
Positive NAV performance with the SIML team actively managing our portfolio companies to maximise value
Syncona Ltd, a leading life science investor, today issues its quarterly update covering the period from 01 October to 31 December 2025.
Chris Hollowood, Chief Executive of Syncona Investment Management Limited, said: "We are pleased to have delivered positive NAV performance this quarter with Beacon attracting external capital which further enables the delivery of its pivotal study, bringing a potentially ground-breaking medicine closer to patients. The SIML team has been actively engaged with the portfolio companies to maximise value.
Looking ahead, we are encouraged by the recent recovery in the biotech sector in public markets, with the Beacon financing suggesting this is now starting to flow into the private markets. Against this improving market backdrop, the portfolio is well-positioned to potentially deliver on multiple key value inflection points. These have the potential to underpin significant NAV growth supporting the return of a minimum of £250 million to shareholders, as set out in Syncona's proposed new Investment Objective and Policy."
Melanie Gee, Chair of Syncona Limited, said: "My Board colleagues and I are very grateful to our shareholders for their constructive engagement with our strategic process. We look forward to sharing more details of these proposals in the coming days and to holding the shareholder meeting in early March. More broadly, we are pleased with the SIML team's active management of our strategic portfolio companies during the period."
Positive financial performance supported by improving market conditions
· Net assets of £1,058.2 million, 173.9p per share (30 September 2025: £1,020.9 million, 167.9p per share); a NAV per share return of 3.6% in the quarter
· Life Science Portfolio valued at £840.1 million (30 September 2025: £750.2 million), a return of 5.0% in the quarter:
o Driven by 20% valuation uplift of Beacon Therapeutics (Beacon), following its Series C financing[1] and Autolus' share price appreciation
· Over the nine months to 31 December 2025, NAV per share has returned 1.8% with the Life Science Portfolio generating a return of 3.3%
· Capital pool of £218.1 million at 31 December 2025 (30 September 2025: £270.7 million); £52.6 million deployed in the quarter
Strategic portfolio demonstrating clinical and financial progress
· 85% of the Life Science Portfolio in commercial, late stage and clinical stage companies
· Continued positive clinical progress across the portfolio including:
o Beacon published longer-term positive data from two Phase II trials, SKYLINE and DAWN, at 36 months and 9 months, respectively
o iOnctura completed patient enrolment in two Phase II clinical studies (uveal melanoma and non-small cell lung cancer) and has delivered other key milestones across its pipeline of oncology indications
o Resolution published new clinical data supporting the hypothesis that Regenerative Macrophage Therapy (RMT) has anti-inflammatory and anti-fibrotic effects in cirrhosis
o Spur is initiating its phase III clinical programme in Gaucher Disease and Purespring Therapeutics is initiating its phase I/II programme for IgA nephropathy with both companies opening clinical sites
· Financial progress with Beacon attracting validating external capital
o Beacon raised $75 million in an oversubscribed Series C financing led by Goldman Sachs Alternatives, where Syncona committed $24.5 million alongside existing investors
Capital deployment focused on late-stage clinical companies and Resolution; disciplined and selective new investments
· 85% of capital invested into late-stage clinical companies and Resolution including £10.3 million in Beacon's Series C financing[2]
· Selective new investments with a prudent approach consistent with proposed new Capital Allocation Policy
o £4.5 million invested in a new opportunity in the immunology space, NewCo
o Slingshot Therapeutics, Syncona's accelerator, has launched ALTX Therapeutics (ALTx), deploying £3.6 million. ALTx is a new spin out from the Francis Crick Institute developing therapeutics to treat cancers that make use of the Alternative Lengthening of Telomeres (ALT) pathway
Eight key value inflection points over the next three years with four expected this calendar year
The portfolio has eight key value inflection points expected over the next three years with the potential to drive significant NAV growth through M&A and liquidity, and other events, but these are not without risk. Syncona is funded to deliver on these key value inflection points.
· Four key value inflection points expected from commercial, and late-stage and clinical-stage companies in CY2026 (Autolus, Beacon, iOnctura and Resolution)
· Quell's key value inflection point has changed and is delayed until CY2027 reflecting a recent strategic decision taken at the company:
o Quell has taken the decision to prioritise its QEL-005 programme for rheumatologic autoimmune (RA) diseases, which it expects to enter the clinic this year, initiating the CHILL Study with patient cohorts in RA and Systemic Sclerosis (SSc)
o Quell will pause its Phase I/II LIBERATE study, QEL-001, in liver transplantation in order to allocate capital to drive forward the QEL-005 programme in RA/SSc, publishing clinical data in CY2027
o The study, alongside competitor data, has provided the company with key insights that de-risk the QEL-005 programme, which could access a potentially larger commercial opportunity
o The key value inflection point for Quell has been updated to reflect work on this new programme with timing now CY2027 relative to the previous timing of CY2026
o Whilst we seek to avoid delays, the SIML team is encouraged by the technical progress in the field and supports management's decision to allocate capital to the programme with the best risk adjusted return
Circular publication
· Next week, the Company will publish a circular and notice of general meeting to approve its new Investment Policy and provide details of the new Long-Term Incentive Arrangements for SIML
· General Meeting to approve the proposals to take place in early March 2026
Capital Markets Day
· Syncona will be holding a Capital Markets Day on 19 March 2026 at which members of the SIML team, portfolio company management and market participants will provide an update on the portfolio and broader market outlook
Life Science Portfolio valuations[3]
| 30 Sep 2025 | Net investment in the period | Valuation change | FX movement | 31 Dec 2025 | % of Group NAV | Valuation Basis[4],[5],[6] | Fully diluted owner-ship stake[7] | Focus area | |
| (£m) | (£m) | (£m) | (£m) | (£m) | (%) | ||||
| Strategic portfolio companies | |||||||||
| On the market | |||||||||
| Autolus | 34.9 | 7.8 | (0.1) | 42.6 | 4.0% | Quoted | 9.6% | Cell therapy | |
| Late-stage clinical | |||||||||
| Spur | 184.9 | 11.0 | 0.1 | 196.0 | 18.5% | Cost | 86.5% | Gene therapy | |
| Beacon | 125.6 | 21.5 | 30.0 | (0.8) | 176.3 | 16.7% | PRI | 38.4% | Gene therapy |
| Clinical | |||||||||
| Quell | 82.1 | (0.2) | 81.9 | 7.8% | PRI | 33.7% | Cell therapy | ||
| Resolution | 58.9 | 12.0 | 0.4 | 71.3 | 6.7% | Cost | 81.2% | Cell therapy | |
| Purespring | 53.4 | 53.4 | 5.0% | PRI | 46.3% | Gene therapy | |||
| Anaveon | 37.9 | 0.1 | 38.0 | 3.6% | PRI | 36.9% | Biologics | ||
| iOnctura | 26.2 | 26.2 | 2.5% | PRI | 21.9% | Small molecules | |||
| Mosaic | 25.5 | 25.5 | 2.4% | Cost | 59.2% | Small molecules | |||
| Pre-clinical | |||||||||
| OMass | 49.7 | 49.7 | 4.7% | PRI | 28.9% | Small molecules | |||
| Kesmalea | 20.0 | 20.0 | 1.9% | Cost | 61.3% | Small molecules | |||
| Yellowstone | 16.5 | 16.5 | 1.6% | Cost | 60.9% | Biologics | |||
| Forcefield | 12.9 | 12.9 | 1.2% | PRI | 73.7% | Biologics | |||
| Slingshot | 8.4 | 3.6 | 12.0 | 1.1% | Cost | 100.0% | Accelerator | ||
| NewCo | 0.0 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 0.4% | Cost | 37.8% | Biologics | ||
| Portfolio milestone payments | |||||||||
| Clade milestone payment | 0.7 | 0.1 | 0.8 | 0.1% | DCF | Cell therapy | |||
| Syncona investments | |||||||||
| CRT Pioneer Fund | 9.9 | (0.5) | 9.4 | 0.9% | Adj Third Party | 64.1% | Oncology | ||
| Biomodal | 2.2 | 2.2 | 0.2% | PRI | 3.0% | Epigenetics | |||
| Century[8] | 0.5 | 0.5 | (0.1) | 0.9 | 0.1% | Quoted | 1.1% | Cell therapy | |
| Total Life Science Portfolio | 750.2 | 52.1 | 38.9 | (1.1) | 840.1 | 79.4% | |||
| Capital pool | 270.7 | (56.4) | 3.1 | 0.7 | 218.1 | 20.6% | |||
| TOTAL | 1,020.9 | 1,058.2 | 100.0% | ||||||
| Strategic life science portfolio company | Next expected capital access milestones | SIML team view of potential key value inflection points |
| On the market | ||
| Autolus | CY2026 - Further commercial traction following US launch of AUCATZYL® (obe-cel) | |
| Moving towards being on the market | ||
| Beacon | H2 CY2026 - Data readout from its pivotal VISTA trial in XLRP | |
| Spur | CY2026 - Initiation of Phase I/II trial in Parkinson's disease | H1 CY2028 - Completion of the pivotal stage of its Phase III trial in Gaucher disease |
| Moving towards publishing definitive data | ||
| iOnctura | H2 CY2026 - Data readout from its Phase II trial in uveal melanoma | |
| Resolution | H2 CY2026 - Interim data readout from its Phase I/II trial in end-stage liver disease | |
| Moving towards publishing emerging efficacy data | ||
| Quell | H1 CY2026 - CTA approval for Phase I/II CHILL study in rheumatologic autoimmune diseases | CY2027(updated) - Data from its Phase I/II CHILL study in rheumatologic autoimmune diseases |
| Anaveon | CY2026 - Data readout from its Phase I/II trial of ANV600 CY2026 - IND filing for its Phase I/II trial in ANV200 | |
| Purespring | H1 CY2027 - Complement biomarker clinical data | |
| OMass | CY2026 - Initiation of Phase I trial of its MC2 programme | CY2027 - Data from Phase I trial of MC2 programme |
| Mosaic | H2 CY2026 - Initiation of first clinical study for lead drug combination H1 CY2027 - Initiation of clinical study for second drug combination | |
| Yellowstone | CY2026 - Candidate selection for lead programme | |