Syncona Limited Syncona makes £48 million commitment to Gyroscope (9661K)

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RNS Number : 9661K

Syncona Limited

03 September 2019

03 September 2019

SYNCONA MAKES GBP48 MILLION COMMITMENT TO GYROSCOPE

-- GBP48 million commitment to Gyroscope in a GBP50.4 million Series B financing in line with Syncona's strategy to found, build and fund its companies ambitiously over the long-term

-- Series B financing increases Syncona's total commitment to Gyroscope since foundation to GBP82.0 million; Syncona retains an 80 per cent stake in the business[1]

Syncona Ltd, a leading healthcare company focused on founding, building and funding global leaders in life sciences, today announces that it has committed GBP48.0 million of a GBP50.4 million Series B financing to Gyroscope Therapeutics ("Gyroscope") with the further GBP2.4 million being committed by Cambridge Innovation Capital ("CIC"). Syncona retains an 80 per cent stake in the business. Its holding is valued at cost and held at GBP56.0 million, following the investment of the first tranche of the Series B financing of GBP22.0 million.

Gyroscope is a leading clinical-stage, retinal gene therapy company targeting the treatment of dry age-related macular degeneration (dry-AMD), one of the leading cause of blindness and for which there is currently no therapy. Gyroscope's approach represents one of the first potential applications of gene therapy beyond rare diseases. Its manufacturing and surgical platform allows product development at commercial scale and quality, which will support the company's ambition to deliver treatments to patients in a disease impacting more than 35 million people worldwide.

The Series B financing brings Gyroscope's total funding to date to GBP82.0 million and is expected to allow the Company to complete its phase 1/2 study, commence its phase 2 study and expand the use of its surgical delivery platform in the clinic to further establish safe, consistent delivery of gene therapy to the retina.

Chris Hollowood, Chief Investment Officer of Syncona and Chairman of Gyroscope, said: "This financing further demonstrates our strategy to scale companies we have founded ambitiously so they can become global leaders in their domain.

"Gyroscope is an important part of Syncona's gene therapy strategy as we seek to utilise our expertise in the area to move beyond rare diseases into more prevalent diseases and build the next generation of products."

Khurem Farooq, Chief Executive Officer of Gyroscope, said: "We are grateful for the confidence Syncona and CIC have shown in Gyroscope as we continue to deliver on our promise to bring gene therapy beyond rare disease to help the millions of people worldwide with dry-AMD. Both our investigational therapy GT005 and the Orbit Surgical Delivery System are being used to treat patients in early-stage clinical trials and this funding will allow us to collect and analyse safety data needed to then move into larger trials and eventually bring them to market."

[ENDS]

Enquiries

Syncona Ltd

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FTI Consulting

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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.

About Syncona

Syncona is a leading FTSE250 healthcare company focused on founding, building and funding global leaders in life science. Our vision is to deliver transformational treatments to patients in truly innovative areas of healthcare while generating superior returns for shareholders.

We seek to partner with the best, brightest and most ambitious minds in science to build globally competitive businesses.

We take a long-term view, underpinned by a deep pool of capital, and are established leaders in gene and cell therapy. We focus on delivering dramatic efficacy for patients in areas of high unmet need.

Gyroscope: Vision for Life

Gyroscope Therapeutics is developing gene therapy beyond rare disease and using it to treat a leading cause of blindness, dry age-related macular degeneration (dry-AMD). Currently, 35 million people are affected by dry-AMD around the world and there are no approved treatments.

Research suggests that when a part of our immune system, the complement system, is overactive it causes inflammation that damages healthy eye tissues.

Our investigational therapy, GT005, is designed to restore balance to the complement system. The goal is to slow, or possibly stop the progression of dry-AMD. Patients in our Phase I/II clinical trial receive a single dose of the therapy through a one-time procedure into the back of their retina.

Our Orbit Biomedical Surgical Delivery System (SDS) is designed to help surgeons deliver therapies to the retina with precision and accuracy. Our goal is to simplify surgical procedures to make the administration safe and consistent to give the therapy the best chance of working. In addition to developing the Orbit SDS technology for our own medicines, Gyroscope licenses the Orbit SDS technology to other companies who are developing gene and cell therapies to treat eye disease.

Syncona and CIC helped us create the only retinal gene therapy company to combine discovery research, drug development, a manufacturing platform and surgical delivery capabilities. Headquartered in London, UK, with a U.S. headquarters near Philadelphia, PA, we are building a pipeline of medicines, surgical procedures and delivery devices to preserve sight and fight the devastating impact of blindness. For more information go to: www.gyroscopetx.com

[1] Syncona's ownership stake at the point full current commitments are invested.

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September 03, 2019 02:01 ET (06:01 GMT)