Syncona Share Discussion Threads

[spectoacc] 25/11/2024 15:56

Added a few here too. Didn't take 10p profit on the last bounce but despite the chance of upset (investee co's failing trials etc), the downside seems limited to me.

[the shuffle man] 19/11/2024 12:33

Just added a small amount to my holding.

[the shuffle man] 19/11/2024 12:05

Just listened to the webinar which was upbeat. They see significant intrinsic value within the portfolio not represented in the current NAV. Next inflexion point will come from Beacon Therapeutics in Dec 24. Results from a trial have been brought forward from 2025 so hopefully these will be good. Current share price seems to represent good value with continued newsflow to come.

[cousinit] 18/11/2024 15:24

Rightly or wrongly, I have topped up this afternoon.

[cousinit] 18/11/2024 15:24

Feels like on top of the general malaise for many trusts that there is a bit of RFK follow through from the US into UK listed Pharma/biotech.

[spectoacc] 18/11/2024 14:58

Guessing we may see some large trades again shortly - haven't seen any other reason for the fall.

[the shuffle man] 18/11/2024 14:57

More positive news

Quell Therapeutics Achieves Milestone for Type 1 Diabetes CAR-Treg Cell Therapy Program
Quell Therapeutics Ltd (“Quell”), a leader in developing engineered T-regulatory (Treg) cell therapies for serious medical conditions driven by the immune system, announces that AstraZeneca has selected a candidate to progress in the Type 1 Diabetes (T1D) Treg cell therapy program.

Iain McGill, CEO of Quell Therapeutics, said: “Our collaboration with AstraZeneca is progressing extremely well and the achievement of this first significant milestone in the Type 1 Diabetes program is highly encouraging. It highlights the strong commitment and rapid integration of our respective research teams as well as providing important early validation of our novel CAR-Treg cell therapy approach to autoimmune diseases. Further, the nomination of this first candidate in T1D nicely complements the advances we are making with QEL-001, our internal program in transplantation, and demonstrates the potential of our powerful technology to unlock a broad opportunity across autoimmune and inflammatory diseases.”

[the shuffle man] 18/11/2024 13:26

Did not think we would see this share price weakness. At this rate we are going to drop below £1. It doesn't make sense.

[spectoacc] 11/11/2024 13:22

Not sure they've sold any yet - they've said they're holding the APAX position until it re-rates for eg, wouldn't be surprised if same with SYNC. ie a longer-term seller, but not a firesale.

Happy to sit in SYNC - if they did sell & tank it, I'd buy more.

[the shuffle man] 11/11/2024 12:59

Autolus now approve by the FDA. Lots of news released over the last month has also been positive. If the Witan overhang is cleared hopefully these will start to re-rate.

[the shuffle man] 24/10/2024 07:43

Looks like the initial integration of Witan is now complete. Announcement says they still hold a few investment trusts trading at big discounts which they will look to sell when opportunities arise. No idea how much they still hold in Syncona.

[the shuffle man] 23/10/2024 07:20

More positive news. Deutsche have a price target of £2.05

Chris Hollowood, Chief Executive Officer of Syncona Investment Management Limited and Chair of Spur Therapeutics, said: "The data presented at ESGCT further demonstrates FLT201's potential to transform the lives of patients with Gaucher disease. The maturing data that we are seeing from the GALILEO-1 trial underlines the durability profile of FLT201 and reinforces the long-lasting potential of this therapy beyond current standard of care for the thousands of patients with the disease. Furthermore, the data de-risks Spur's technology and supports the advancement of the company's pre-clinical pipeline into more prevalent disorders, including Parkinson's disease. The delivery of this data at ESGCT is a key value inflection point for Spur, and we continue to support the company as it prepares to initiate a Phase III trial in CY202

[ferrox5] 17/10/2024 13:36

I heard Holloway speak about a week ago. His enthusiasm was mainly directed at Beacon, though their subsequent announcement doesn't seem to have done much for the price.

[the shuffle man] 17/10/2024 10:48

Should be news on Autolus on 16 November.

8 Penny Stocks with Biggest Upside Potential According to Analysts

Autolus Therapeutics plc (NASDAQ:AUTL)
Share Price: $3.89

Upside Potential: 182.05%

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 24

Autolus Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AUTL) is a clinical-stage biopharmaceuticals company based in the United Kingdom. It develops programmed T cell therapies for treating autoimmune diseases and cancer and focuses on chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy. The company engineers controlled, targeted, and highly active T cell therapy product candidates designed to recognize target cells, break their defense mechanisms down, and eliminate them. It is doing so using a portfolio of proprietary and modular T-cell programming technologies.

Autolus Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AUTL) also has a pipeline of product candidates to treat solid tumors, hematological malignancies, and autoimmune diseases. The company has partnered with several healthcare players to increase capital. This initiative includes a partnership with BioNTech, which added $600 million to the company’s balance sheet in Q1 2024.

In addition, the company has a deal with Blackstone Life Sciences to provide around $250 million in financing for its drug development and commercialization. Blackstone’s interest in the company is due to its potential to deliver lifesaving treatments to cancer patients.

The company’s AUTO6NG program initiated patient treatment in Q2, with plans to share additional publications and clinical data regarding the programs in the second half of 2024. The launch of Obe-cel is also expected to take place in the US market soon, with a PDUFA date set for November 16. Autolus Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AUTL) has submitted a Market Authorization Application (MAA) to the UK’s MHRA for Obe-cel.

Overall, AUTL ranks SEVENTH among the 8 penny stocks with the biggest upside potential according to analysts.

[the shuffle man] 17/10/2024 10:21

I also couldnt resist at this level and have gone back in. Lets hope for some positive news on Autolus by the end of the year.

[hindsight] 16/10/2024 15:48

Cracked and got on board

[spectoacc] 16/10/2024 15:09

Missed that, thanks - going to be a few like that.

The buy back will clear it eventually - in about 30 years :))

[clova1] 16/10/2024 10:14

£17.7 in Witan 2023 annual report. That's going to take a while to offload, would they even be trying on the open market?

[the shuffle man] 16/10/2024 08:44

Any idea what the Witan holding was. Someone has been dumping the shares over the last few days.

[cousinit] 26/9/2024 11:36

It's a difficult one. Who knows where the share price may have been now without them?

The relatively unloved sector, NAV retreating where there has not been a materially positive move forward for some time now and the likely Witan overhang all cast a shadow.

I guess you've got to take the view (if you're holding on!) that they will to get their mojo back at some point and that a reduced share count which was executed at prices below 130p made a worthwhile NAV accretion.

Appreciate that the market doesn't believe the NAV, but CRS was buying stock back around 80p late last year with a then NAV just over 100p. NAV now north of 170p.

[spectoacc] 24/9/2024 08:25

A lot of debate over whether buybacks "work", the answer being that it depends what the aims are - support the s/p, accrete to NAV, add liquidity - but can't say buying at the prices they've paid looks particularly smart now. Eg:

82k 120.5p 19/8
130k 122.6p 20/8
130k 121.2p 21/8
130k 122.1p 29/8
130k 122.7p 30/8
etc.

Even the 241k at 110.1p no Friday already looks none too bright.

I guess if in doubt, pound cost average, but suspect all the NAV accretion, which will be tiny eg one penny, will get undone with a single poor trial result.

What buybacks say is "We have no better use for the money than buying our shares at a discount", when what shareholders need is investment that produces a higher return.

Dunno - but what can be said is that from current lows, it looks poor.

[chc15] 16/7/2024 10:25

Noticed this dog is barking again, I've just started a new position here, share price ticking up.

[chrisdgb] 08/7/2024 13:44

Certainly a lot going on...........

[spectoacc] 20/6/2024 07:37

Biased, but I'd say so. Today's RNS's show they're still doing deals.

Those looking at the NAV, and deciding if the discount is large enough, are likely missing that we may be towards the bottom of the cycle. I'd not buy unless I thought that NAV had the potential to go significantly higher over time.

Interestingly, at the top of the cycle when there's money pouring in, they'll be trading at a massive premium and everyone will want to buy.