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

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.