Resolution Series B and new Chair appointment
3 October 2024
Syncona Limited
Resolution Therapeutics raises £63.5 million in Series B financing and appoints new Chair
· Syncona's £63.5 million Series B commitment will be used by Resolution to progress the company and advance its lead candidate, RTX001 in end-stage liver disease
· RTX001 is expected to enter the clinic in Q4 CY2024, with the company funded to deliver a Phase I/II data readout anticipated in CY2026, a key value inflection point for the company
· Following the Series B first tranche investment of £22.0 million[1], Syncona's holding value of Resolution is now £63.6 million[2]
· On drawdown of the full Series B financing, Syncona's ownership stake will be 82.6 per cent
· Resolution appoints Paul Sekhri as Chair, bringing decades of drug development and extensive business development experience to the Board
Syncona Ltd, ("Syncona" or the "Company"), a leading life science investor focused on creating, building and scaling a portfolio of global leaders in life science, today announces that it has committed £63.5 million in a Series B financing of Resolution Therapeutics ("Resolution"), a portfolio company focused on unlocking the regenerative potential of macrophage therapy for the treatment of inflammatory and fibrotic diseases. Syncona has invested an initial tranche of £22.0 million1, with investment of the full Series B commitment tranched upon the completion of key milestones.
Alongside this investment, Resolution has appointed Paul Sekhri as Chair of Resolution's Board of Directors. From a career in life sciences spanning over 35 years, Paul brings a wealth of relevant industry experience to Resolution that will support its future growth, with particular expertise in drug development, business development and delivering successful financing strategies. He is currently President and CEO of vTv Therapeutics and was previously President and CEO of eGenesis and Lycera Corp. Paul has significant senior management, executive and non-executive experience, having worked across biotechnology and large corporate pharmaceutical companies, as well as private equity and venture capital firms.
Launched by Syncona in 2020, Resolution is targeting end-stage liver disease (ESLD), a severe form of liver failure, where a lack of effective therapeutic options means that patients often require liver transplantation and often die as a consequence of the disease. To date, the company has published proof-of-principle data from the academic MATCH II study on the use of macrophage cell therapy in ESLD. Based on the strength of this data, Resolution is now focused on advancing its lead candidate, RTX001, an enhanced, next-generation macrophage cell therapy with first-in-class potential for ESLD.
Use of proceeds from the Series B financing will support the clinical entry and development of RTX001, with a Phase I/II trial expected to start in Q4 CY2024. Following this financing, Resolution is funded to deliver data from this trial, anticipated in CY2026, a key value inflection point with the potential to drive significant NAV growth for Syncona. Proceeds will also be used to develop the company's manufacturing platform, expand the pre-clinical pipeline, and further strengthen the management team, following several key recent appointments, including Dr Amir Hefni as CEO, Simon Ramsden as CFO and Dr Clifford A. Brass as CMO.
The Series B financing brings the total amount raised by Resolution to £101.4 million[3]. Following the drawdown of the full Series B financing, Syncona's ownership stake in Resolution will be 82.6 per cent. Including the drawdown of the first tranche of investment of £22.0 million, Syncona's holding value of Resolution is now £63.6 million. Following the financing, Syncona Investment Partner Gonzalo Garcia has joined Resolution's Board of Directors, joining Managing Partner Edward Hodgkin.
Edward Hodgkin, Managing Partner of Syncona Investment Management Limited and Non-Executive Director of Resolution, said: "The data that Resolution has generated to date in this emerging area of medicine is encouraging and, in our view, demonstrates the potential that macrophages have in treating end-stage liver disease. This is a potential first-in-class product being developed for a disease where patients have no effective therapeutic options and typically face a liver transplant or further deterioration of their condition, which is often fatal. We are delighted to continue to support Resolution with our commitment to its Series B financing, in-line with Syncona's focus on allocating capital to clinical-stage assets and assets approaching clinical entry. We are also very pleased to welcome to Resolution Paul Sekhri, who brings a demonstrable track record in supporting companies through the development cycle and will act as a valuable sounding board for the company's growing executive team."
Amir Hefni, Chief Executive Officer of Resolution, said: "As we prepare to advance RTX001, our lead investigational macrophage therapy with first-in-class potential for the treatment of end-stage liver disease, into the clinic this year, we are grateful for Syncona's continued support. In addition, we are pleased to welcome Paul Sekhri to our Board of Directors. Paul brings a wealth of experience leading top-tier companies to develop breakthrough medicines, including novel treatments for patients with autoimmune disease. The team and I look forward to working with Paul to bring novel macrophage therapies, like RTX001, to patients in need."
Paul Sekhri, Chair of Resolution, said: "I am delighted to join Resolution at such an exciting time as it prepares to enter the clinic with RTX001 and expand pipeline efforts into new indications where significant unmet patient need exists. I look forward to collaborating with Amir, the entire Resolution team and supporting the company as it expands its leadership in macrophage therapy."
[ENDS]
Enquiries
Syncona Ltd
Natalie Garland-Collins / Fergus Witt
Tel: +44 (0) 20 3981 7912
FTI Consulting
Ben Atwell / 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, building and scaling companies to deliver transformational treatments to patients in areas of high unmet need.
We aim to build and maintain a diversified portfolio of 20-25 globally leading life science businesses, across development stage, modality and therapeutic area, for the benefit of all our stakeholders. We focus on developing treatments that deliver patient impact by working in close partnership with world-class academic founders and experienced 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.
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.
About Resolution Therapeutics
Resolution Therapeutics is a biopharmaceutical company focused on unlocking the regenerative potential of macrophage therapy for the treatment of inflammatory and fibrotic diseases. T. The Company leverages its proprietary cell characterization and engineering platform to develop autologous macrophages with distinct pro-regenerative properties for superior patient outcomes across the spectrum of inflammatory and fibrotic diseases. Resolution's initial focus is on developing RTX001, its lead product candidate with first-in-class potential supported by preclinical data demonstrating anti-fibrotic and anti-inflammatory advantages relative to non-engineered macrophages, for patients diagnosed with end-stage liver disease. The Company is also advancing efforts to expand the potential of its platform into indications beyond liver disease where engineered macrophages have therapeutic potential. Resolution Therapeutics is based in Edinburgh and London.
[1] This investment includes a £12.0 million convertible loan note provided by Syncona in March 2024, which converted to the Series B financing on successful closure of the round.
[2] This holding value incorporates value accrued through interest from the convertible loan note and through its conversion to the Series B financing.
[3] Assuming full investment of the Series B commitment, which is tranched upon the completion of key milestones.
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