Syncona Share Discussion Threads

[brexitplus] 13/6/2019 16:49

Interesting re current nav and possible sales.

DT

“Syncona plans to boost the amount of money it uses to build and invest in biotech companies by a third this year, as the market for cutting-edge cell and gene therapies heats up.”

Syncona

“We believe there is a clear opportunity to invest at scale in the growing healthcare sector. We have built a portfolio of 10 companies at year end in innovative areas of life science, eight of which we founded. Our high-conviction approach means that we expect to deploy significant further capital across the portfolio this year.

We also see a strong pipeline of opportunities to found new companies. Our aim is to build a portfolio of 15-20 companies and we remain focused on areas where we are strategically positioned, such as cell and gene therapy, but also look at opportunities more broadly across a range of modalities and therapeutic areas.

As a result, we are increasing our guidance on annual capital deployment to GBP100 – 200 million this year (2018 guidance: GBP75-150 million).”

[luxaeterna1] 13/6/2019 13:26

Is the 2.3p dividend a 'cash dividend' this year?

I had to laugh at last years 'scrip dividend', there is no point paying a dividend in cash or shares if the effect is dilutive for all investors.

It really is just there to fool less educated shareholders...

[brexitplus] 13/6/2019 10:34

Lux

Agreed, but I can see large US players being very interested.

[luxaeterna1] 13/6/2019 10:31

An offer for BlueEarth? That would need to be a serious package of pounds/dollars/euros!

They may even have scope for dividends from a divestment of that scale. Strategically would be better to de-risk first and see whether the treatment can be extended to Glioma and progress the pre-clinical experimental agents, in perhaps 1-2 years you could then start to decide if BED is a £400m or a £2bn acquisition target?

[brexitplus] 13/6/2019 09:38

I can see an offer being made for Blue Earth soon.

[luxaeterna1] 13/6/2019 09:17

Most importantly, BED already cash generative and returning $ to Syncona, EBITDA of £28.7 million and a £14.2m cash pot sent to Syncona. Enough income to cover the overheads, plus the £255m from the sale of Nightstar.

We are through the tricky stage, now comes the real growth chapter..? ;)

[tiger blue] 13/6/2019 09:08

Brexitplus - thanks, will download that but always like to see the body language and the Q&A. Reassuring on the cash, that should last a good while.

[brexitplus] 13/6/2019 09:02

Tiger

Presentation is on the Syncona website.

Strategic pool is £655 million following the sale of Nightstar.

[tiger blue] 13/6/2019 08:55

All reads well, will be tuning in to the webcast at 10:30. Nav won’t be reflecting Autolus price fall recently but nevertheless very encouraging update and stepping up the pace on investment (hopefully not to the point of a later fundraising as I can’t afford to top up!). It would be ironic if Autolus turns out to be one of Woodford’s winners, may come too late to save his bacon. Itinvestor - couldn’t agree more, SYNC shows the benefit of proper due diligence and focus vs Woodford’s scattergun approach.

[brexitplus] 13/6/2019 08:39

Results suggest discount has narrowed greatly. All good news it appears.

[alan@bj] 13/6/2019 08:10

Two press releases today, one about Quell Therapeutics appointing a new Chief Executive and the other about Freeline. To read them, go to:-

[ltinvestor] 13/6/2019 07:20

Excellent set of results and looking forward to an exciting year ahead.Blue Earth (89% owned by Syncona)t/o £83.9m and expected to rise this year with potential for further registrations.Autolus on the brink of 3 phase 2 trials....I can’t praise the management enough especially when one looks at the Woodford debacle.

[brexitplus] 13/6/2019 07:20

Excellent results. Just Woodford a fly in the ointment.

[luxaeterna1] 10/6/2019 13:53

Nightstar sale cheque should land with Syncona this week. Champagne all around?

[tiger blue] 07/6/2019 10:22

Autolus - good audio Q&A by CEO on the Autolus website from the Jefferies Healthcare Conference 5th June. You need to register and it's 25 minutes, but he addresses the share price & Woodford, calling it a price dislocation, implying technically weak on Woodford but no bearing on company progress. All of the Autolus programmes are covered, very promising so far with effectiveness as good as the best out there but with far lower toxicity and side effects, due to their engineered T-cells being given an 'off switch' once they have done their work. Worth a listen.

[tiger blue] 04/6/2019 18:38

it, sorry but I think you are just looking at one Woodfund fund, he holds it in both funds + patient capital. Just done a google search for Autolus shareholders and as of 14th May Woodford INV Mgmt as a whole has 12.04m Autolus which is 30.02%

Autolus currently down c 13% on Nasdaq, someone needs to buy his stock!

Best
Tiger

[ltinvestor] 04/6/2019 18:06

Woodford 12.8% not 30% holding in Autolus

[alan@bj] 04/6/2019 16:35

Good point, Dave. When I posted it was down to 222p.

[davemac3] 04/6/2019 13:56

what drop? ;-)

[alan@bj] 04/6/2019 12:24

Could this drop Woodford related, bearing in mind he has a 3% holding in autolus?

[luxaeterna1] 30/5/2019 10:59

My gut feeling is that SYNC is undervalued as a growth story, although the cash investments make it an interesting case for dividends etc. By simply taking Blue Earth’s quarterly profitability of £10.8m (£44m annually with 75+% sales growth), you can argue BED alone is worth £440m+ based on the 2018 profit levels! Clearly SYNC are going to plough additional revenue in extra treatments, but if AUTO and Freeline come online to the market we’re starting to see a roadmap to £4+ territory.

[ltinvestor] 28/5/2019 08:58

I believe that Syncona own 80% of Freeline?

[brexitplus] 28/5/2019 07:55

Freeline, a biotechnology company focused on developing curative gene therapies for chronic systemic diseases, presented pre-clinical data of FLT190, a novel proprietary AAV gene therapy to treat Fabry Disease at the 6th Update on Fabry Disease in Prague, Czech Republic.
Fabry mice (GLA knockout) received a single dose of ssAAV8-FRE1-GLAco (FLT190 pseudotyped with AA8 capsid). The first assessment of GLA levels made at four weeks after dosing showed levels up to 1061-fold higher compared to wild-type mice. These GLA levels were maintained throughout the follow up period, up to 98 days after dosing. Importantly, this single administration led to significant and durable reductions in Gb3 storage levels in the heart and kidney, thus demonstrating reduction of this toxic metabolite in important organs frequently affected by Fabry Disease. No adverse clinical signs or toxicity associated with high expression of α-GLA in the liver or increased plasma exposure to GLA were observed in the study.

Freeline also presented the study design for MARVEL1, the Phase 1/2 clinical study of FLT190 in patients with Fabry Disease. This study investigates the safety of FLT190, a new gene therapy using the Freeline proprietary AAVS3 capsid. In addition, the study will investigate the potential of FLT190 in treating the signs and symptoms of Fabry Disease following a single administration, including e.g. αGLA activity levels, Gb3/Lyso-Gb3 clearance, changes in Gb3 in renal and skin biopsies, renal and cardiac function, GLA immune response, viral shedding and quality of life. The study is currently recruiting at two sites in Europe.

Anne Prener, Chief Executive Officer of Freeline said:

“Our preclinical data are very encouraging, demonstrating clear evidence of the therapeutic potential of FLT190 in treating Fabry Disease.”