Syncona Share Discussion Threads

[chc15] 06/9/2023 13:52

Ok thx, yeh i think they will recover, checking on shareholders, Blackrock bought a huge stake in these, so we'll see.

[tiger blue] 06/9/2023 13:23

Hugely out of favour and ignored, as you will know by being the first post since your exit one in March! While I made a lot of money from this by virtue of having them from BACIT at 100p launch and exiting average 248, and by having far more of them than was sensible, I did buy 10% of the original holding back in the mid 160's, so long and wrong on those. They are far below nav and unloved but I think there will be better days ahead when the sector turns, which might be helped once we get a turn in the interest rate cycle, as higher rates have been a big headwind for the sector.

[chc15] 06/9/2023 12:45

Checking back on this dog, might be tempted to nibble back in here, seems bio still out of favour.

[chc15] 09/3/2023 13:40

I got out of this last week, going nowere.

[the shuffle man] 08/3/2023 17:05

Lets hope not. Just bought some. trading at a decent discount with lots of cash. They have a decent track record. Just need sentiment to change towards Biotechs. There must be a persistent seller around at the moment. Lets hope they are done soon.

[spectoacc] 08/3/2023 14:12

Not more than..........

[chc15] 08/3/2023 13:05

3 yr lows, can this drop much further?

[chc15] 08/2/2023 12:00

Not a great q3, shares taking a dive again , 6% drop, may top up a bit..

[chc15] 26/1/2023 09:56

Having a small nibble here, the share price is dire..

[tiger blue] 20/11/2022 21:43

I agree that it was an ambitious statement, but not one they had to make and at this stage unlikely to move the dial much on the share price. They are however serious people who know their sector well, with excellent contacts to enable early access to good science, and it was intriguing that they made it at all. I think they have learned a lot since launch, but still delivered a portfolio IRR of 26% to date, and stepping up the number of company launches with additional recruitment should give a boost. Despite some excellent exits NASDAQ has not been a happy place for their quoted companies, hence what reads as a shift to holding privately to exit with 'like minded' investors. That's not necessarily a bad thing, as Gyroscope had the float badly handled and pulled, but despite that soon after got a nice bid from Novartis. That was their second retinal area sale and they are back in with another new retinal venture. At the end of the day I am there on the basis that anywhere below nav they look on the cheap side, and if they get somewhere close to their target I will be well rewarded. Incidentally, if my use of the compound calculator is correct, it would take a 15% compound return to get to £5 billion over the 10 years. Yes, they have the drag of the capital pool to contend with, but given the portfolio IRR they have achieved to date it's not out of the question.

[rambutan2] 20/11/2022 20:59

So was I, so I watched the webcast and have to say that no real guidance was given beyond that the sector itself has tremendous opportunities, and that SYNC is upping its game a tad by taking on more staff. I was hoping that in Q&A at the end one of the analysts would ask the (obvious) question, but none did. They are not upping the amount they invest pa, at least for the time being, and they are intent on keeping a big cash balance - which is sensible but a big drag on returns. Of course, it could be that they are supremely confident one of their current port cos is going to go to the moon, and the beauty of bio investing is that success can bring huge value add. Hmmm...

[lomax99] 20/11/2022 10:34

The NAV per share has approx. doubled in the last decade and is up c. 27% over the last 5 years, any particular reason why the next 10 years is going to show, frankly, staggering comparative outperformance? Genuinely interested!

[tiger blue] 17/11/2022 10:19

Just listened in on the results presentation, very ambitious targets to grow nav to £5bn over next 10 years from current £1.2bn. Biotech has been and remains a horrible sector for momentum at the moment, but as a tuckaway these look cheap and sentiment alone has been a big driver of the share price. This touched 300p when assets were 215-220p, assets now 203p and shares 175p - with that discount and their ability to incubate companies from interesting science to product development/sale I have added another 25k today.

[chc15] 16/11/2022 18:35

Lol anyway back to sync..drop on no news?

[blackhorse23] 16/11/2022 15:53

Bought CURY ( LSE) today , excellent value & growth stocks

[chc15] 16/11/2022 14:22

Down 8%, any ideas why..

[chc15] 16/8/2022 10:54

Slight nav rise, seems ok..

[rambutan2] 16/6/2022 16:06

Finals out, all in all, quite good:

The second half of CY2021 was marked by significant volatility across equity markets globally. This uncertainty has carried on into 2022, compounded by concerns around inflation, interest rates and Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the ongoing humanitarian crisis. This has impacted investor sentiment towards risk assets. We have seen a macro rotation away from growth stocks, impacting both valuations and financings of biotech companies, especially smaller, earlier stage companies. As market volatility has increased, the Syncona team continues to carefully review the requirements of each of our portfolio companies and our capital pool to ensure that our Company is well positioned to navigate continuing challenging markets. Our balance sheet provides us with a strategic advantage, and the team's expertise and rigorous approach to risk management means we continue to take a disciplined approach to capital allocation across a well-funded portfolio and exciting pipeline.

Syncona ended the year with net assets of GBP1,309.8 million or 194.4p per share, a 0.3 per cent return in the year (31 March 2021: net assets of GBP1,300.3 million, NAV per share of 193.9p, 4.4 per cent return), despite the wider market backdrop for life science companies, which saw the NASDAQ Biotechnology Index decline 12 per cent during the period. The significant NAV uplift achieved through the sale of Gyroscope to Novartis and multiple successful private financings offset the decline in share prices of our three listed companies, Autolus, Freeline and Achilles. We recognise that the performance of these listed companies has been disappointing for our shareholders. Our team have worked closely with portfolio company management teams to support them as they continue to execute their development plans. Similarly, the challenging market conditions have also impacted Syncona's share price performance in the financial year, which has been disappointing. Whilst the market environment for early stage biotech companies continues to be challenging, our listed companies are funded to deliver clinical data which represent key milestones for their businesses, and we believe Syncona is well positioned to deliver growth over the long term.

[chc15] 06/6/2022 09:39

Nice rise, must be a big buyer in mkt..

[rambutan2] 28/4/2022 20:24

And to balance things out:

Syncona Ltd, a leading healthcare company focused on founding, building and funding global leaders in life science, today announces that it has committed GBP15 million in an oversubscribed GBP75.5 million Series B financing in OMass Therapeutics ("OMass"), a biotechnology company that identifies medicines against highly validated target ecosystems. Syncona was a co-investor in this financing round, which was led by new investors GV, Northpond and Sanofi Ventures. Existing investors Oxford Science Enterprises and Oxford University also joined the round.

OMass, an Oxford University spin out, is developing small molecule drugs to treat rare diseases and immunological conditions. The company has a unique approach to the way it finds new medicines. It uses its proprietary drug discovery platform, OdyssION(TM), to more accurately interrogate the target and how it interacts with its native ecosystem. These observations provide potentially critical information that can increase the chances of finding highly effective small molecule medicines that will be successful in clinical trials.

This latest financing brings the total amount that OMass has raised to GBP119 million. These proceeds will be used to advance OMass' small molecule portfolio towards clinical trials. This includes progressing the development of small molecule drugs to treat Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia, Inflammatory Bowel Disease and other inflammatory and rare diseases.

Following the Series B financing, Syncona has revalued its existing investment which has resulted in a 32% uplift in the value of its stake in OMass. Including the drawdown of the first tranche of Syncona's Series B investment of GBP15 million, Syncona's holding value of OMass is now GBP44 million. On drawdown of the full Series B financing, Syncona's ownership stake in OMass will be 31 per cent.

Edward Hodgkin, Chair of OMass and Partner at Syncona said: "We are pleased with this financing round which will support OMass as it looks to progress its pipeline of small molecule drugs. The strength of this global group of top tier life science investors reflects confidence in the company's technology and supports our ambition to build a sustainable therapeutics business that has the potential to develop novel drugs in areas of high unmet medical need . This financing represents a further validation of the ability of Syncona's portfolio companies to attract high quality syndicates, to fund them over the long-term."

[rambutan2] 28/4/2022 20:22

Noted, from endpt.com today:

Last Friday, SwanBio Therapeutics laid off about one-quarter of its 60-person workforce, a person with knowledge of the matter told Endpoints News.

The gene therapy biotech was unable to secure an additional round of financing in the first quarter after investors backed out of the round, according to the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity. It’s been 24 months since the Philadelphia-area biotech disclosed it had expanded its Series A to bring total financing to $77 million.

So, like dozens of other biotechs in recent months, SwanBio convened a hybrid meeting on April 22 to let the affected employees know.

Just three days prior, the startup said it would be the first to test an AAV gene therapy for patients with adrenomyeloneuropathy. A Phase I/II clinical trial is slated for the second half of this year, the biotech said April 19. The investigational therapy, dubbed SBT101, has received fast track and orphan drug designations from the FDA in recent months.

A SwanBio spokesperson declined to comment on the layoffs and financing, noting as a private company, the biotech is "intentional about how and when we disclose information."

[chc15] 19/4/2022 18:21

Another shocking day, i wonder how much money Sarsin and Waverton are losing here for their clients. I topped up today, but will be dumping on any profit..

[chc15] 08/4/2022 12:31

Had a small nibble here again, think it's been battered too much, we'll see.

[tiger blue] 05/4/2022 10:00

Bought some more this morning after Martin Murphy's purchase, which I see as quite significant. Sentiment has been horrible in biotech generally and SYNC, but the shares are demonstrably cheap given the discount to nav, which is not a comment one could have made during their previous range, as nav was never much above 225p even when the shares traded at 300p. There was a lot of hope and expectation built in then, now pessimism rules, so time to buy. Share trading volume has been picking up recently and Waverton and Sarasin appearing on the register is encouraging.