16 November 2023

Syncona Limited 

Martin Murphy to step down as Chair of SIML

Syncona Ltd, (the "Company"), a leading life science investor, focused on creating, building and scaling a portfolio of global leaders in life science, today announces that Martin Murphy is stepping down as Chair of Syncona Investment Management Limited (SIML) with Chris Hollowood taking on the role of Interim Chair and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of SIML. Martin will continue to represent Syncona on the Boards of Autolus, Anaveon and Clade.

Martin co-founded Syncona with the Wellcome Trust in 2012. Since its inception, Syncona has made a significant contribution to transforming the life science ecosystem here in the UK, deploying £1.1bn across 22 companies, taking one product to market, and three products to pivotal trials.

Syncona has made significant progress over the last 12 months in expanding its senior team and establishing a new operating model. Roel Bulthuis joined as Managing Partner and Head of Investments of SIML in April 2023, bringing over 20 years of life science venture capital, business development and investment banking experience. Since joining, Roel has been responsible for managing the investment team, as well as leveraging his experience and network to support the delivery of Syncona's strategy. Within the new operating model, the Executive Partner group is working effectively with the investment team and across the portfolio to support them in navigating the development pathway. Notably, John Tsai (previously Chief Medical Officer at Novartis) joined this group during the period, bringing significant clinical, pharmaceutical and leadership experience. He has since been working with a number of portfolio companies including SwanBio Therapeutics (where he is Executive Chair) Forcefield Therapeutics (where he has become CEO) and Mosaic Therapeutics.

The expanded senior team and operating model is now well embedded, and The Board is confident that the evolution and expansion of the team will further support the delivery of the Company's ambitious plans to scale and deliver our £5 billion NAV target by 2032.

Melanie Gee, Chair of Syncona Limited said: "On behalf of the Board, I would like to thank Martin for the pivotal role he has played in co-founding and building Syncona into the business it is today. Martin's commitment to our purpose, vision, patients and shareholders has been remarkable and I would personally like to thank him for his dedication and partnership.

The Board are pleased with the strategic progress Syncona has made and with how the senior team, led by Chris, are operating against a challenging market backdrop with a continued focus on maximising value for our shareholders."

Chris Hollowood, Interim Chair and CEO of SIML, said: "We are hugely indebted to Martin for all he has done in founding and building Syncona. During his tenure, he has established a strong platform with a differentiated capital structure, exciting portfolio and a team highly motivated to make a difference. It has been a personal privilege to work alongside him in our journey so far, and I am pleased we will continue to work together through his work with his portfolio companies over the next few months."

Martin Murphy, outgoing Chair of SIML, said: "Since founding Syncona alongside the Wellcome Trust in 2012, our business has changed the landscape for ambitious life science company creation in the UK. As a direct consequence of Syncona's action, many potential therapies have been taken from the academic bench into the clinic on an industrial footing and the portfolio is now poised to deliver patient benefit and, over the medium term, value creation.  I would like to sincerely thank our shareholders, Melanie Gee and the Board, along with Chris Hollowood and the wider Syncona team for their support, hard work and commitment over the last decade and look forward to watching Syncona continue its journey in the years to come."

Enquiries

Syncona Ltd

Annabel Clark / Fergus Witt

Tel: +44 (0) 20 3981 7940 

FTI Consulting

Ben Atwell / Natalie Garland-Collins / 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 and building companies to deliver transformational treatments to patients in areas of high unmet need.

Our strategy is to create, build and scale companies around exceptional science to create a diversified portfolio of 20-25 globally leading healthcare businesses, across development stage and therapeutic areas, 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.

This announcement includes information that is or may be inside information. The person responsible for arranging for the release of this announcement on behalf of Syncona Ltd is Alasdair Moodie, General Counsel, SIML.

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.

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.