19 September 2024
Syncona
Limited
Achilles
announces strategic update
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,
notes that its investment Achilles Therapeutics ("Achilles") has
announced a strategic update. The company will discontinue its lead
programme, close its clinical trials and explore strategies for
maximising value from its remaining assets. Key updates
include:
· Achilles will discontinue its
TIL-based cNeT programme and close the Phase I/IIa CHIRON and
THETIS clinical trials
· The
company will refocus its strategy to explore further engagement
with third parties who are developing alternative modalities to
target clonal neoantigens for the treatment of cancers
· BofA
Securities has been engaged as a financial adviser to explore
value-maximising strategies
· Strategic alternatives may include, but are not limited to, an
acquisition, merger, reverse merger, business combination, asset
sale, licensing or other transaction
· As of
30 June 2024, the company had $95.1 million in cash and cash
equivalents
· Achilles has proposed cost-cutting measures, including a
workforce reduction
As of 30 June 2024, Syncona's
holding value in Achilles was £7.1 million, equating to 0.6 per
cent of Syncona's Net Asset Value. Syncona moved Achilles from the
strategic portfolio to being classified as a Syncona investment
during the last financial year, after the company was unable to
demonstrate its ability to be competitive in its area of
development. Syncona does not hold a Board role at the company but,
as a significant shareholder (24.5 per cent), has been engaging
with the Board on the path forward.
Chris Hollowood, CEO of Syncona Investment Management Limited,
said: "Achilles has been
investigating a highly innovative approach to treating cancer. Our
view has always been that in order to be competitive, the company
needed to demonstrate an ability to routinely manufacture its
products at a high dose and in significant numbers whilst
delivering superior efficacy to comparable treatments.
Unfortunately the data released to date was unable to demonstrate a
route to a clear competitive advantage, although we believe a
potentially valuable platform has been built. We have been engaging
with the company on routes to maximise value and are supportive of
the actions taken by the leadership team as the best path forward
for the company."
Achilles' announcement is copied
below and can be accessed on the company's website at
https://achillestx.com/.
[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.
Achilles Therapeutics
Announces Strategic Update
-Achilles
to discontinue development of TIL-based cNeT therapy-
-Cash
position of $95.1 million as of June 30, 2024-
-BofA
Securities engaged to provide strategic
financial advice-
London, UK 19 September 2024 -
Achilles Therapeutics plc (NASDAQ: ACHL) today announced the
discontinuation of its TIL-based cNeT program and closure of
the Phase I/IIa CHIRON and THETIS clinical trials. The
Company will refocus its strategy to explore further engagement
with third parties who are developing alternative modalities to
target clonal neoantigens for the treatment of cancers, such as
neoantigen vaccines, ADCs, and TCR-T therapies. Concurrently, the
Company has engaged BofA Securities as a financial advisor in the
process of exploring and reviewing value-maximizing
strategies.
"Our data continue to illustrate the
importance of clonal neoantigens as targets and show some clinical
activity, however our studies in lung cancer and melanoma have not
met our goals for commercial viability. We are grateful for the
support and commitment of our patients, investigators, employees
and shareholders throughout this journey," said Dr Iraj Ali, Chief Executive Officer of
Achilles Therapeutics. "We are actively exploring new
opportunities to leverage our substantial assets and cutting-edge
technology platforms. Our goal remains to drive the development of
effective treatments for patients and create long-term value for
our shareholders."
In connection with the strategic
update, the Company is implementing an employee consultation
process in line with UK legislation proposing a workforce reduction
and undertaking other cost-cutting measures. The Company recognizes
the significant contributions of its talented team and is committed
to supporting all employees throughout this transition period.
Achilles intends to retain all employees essential for supporting
value-realization as part of its strategic review.
As of June 30, 2024, the Company
had $95.1 million in cash and cash
equivalents.
The full clinical data generated
from the Phase I/IIa CHIRON trial in patients with advanced
non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and the Phase I/IIa THETIS trial
in patients with recurrent or metastatic melanoma will be presented
in an upcoming forum.
The process of exploring strategic
alternatives may include, but is not limited to, an acquisition,
merger, reverse merger, business combination, asset sale,
licensing, or other transactions. There can be no assurance that
the exploration of strategic alternatives will result in any
agreements or transactions, or as to the timing of any such
agreements or transactions. Achilles Therapeutics does
not intend to discuss or disclose further developments regarding
the exploration of strategic alternatives unless and until its
Board of Directors has approved a definitive action or otherwise
determined that further disclosure is appropriate or required by
law.
About Achilles Therapeutics
Achilles is a clinical-stage
biopharmaceutical company developing AI-powered precision T cell
therapies targeting clonal neoantigens: protein markers unique to
the individual that are expressed on the surface of every cancer
cell. The Company had in progress two Phase I/IIa trials, the
CHIRON trial in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer
(NSCLC) and the THETIS trial in patients with recurrent or
metastatic melanoma. Achilles uses DNA sequencing data from each
patient, together with its proprietary PELEUS™ bioinformatics
platform, to identify clonal neoantigens specific to that patient,
and then develop precision T cell-based product candidates
specifically targeting those clonal neoantigens.
About TRACERx
TRACERx (TRAcking Cancer Evolution
through therapy (Rx)), led by Professor Charles
Swanton at UCL,
is one of the largest tumor evolution studies to generate deep
sequencing multi-region and multi-time point genetic data from over
3,200 tumor samples from nearly 800 lung cancer patients. TRACERx
has transformed the understanding of tumor evolution and has
convincingly shown that tumors originate from a single cell that
evolves in a Darwinian manner and the early (clonal) mutations are
preserved in all subsequent primary and metastatic tumor cells. The
study, which has generated numerous publications, uncovered
important mechanisms of cancer evolution and immune evasion by
analyzing genetic signatures in lung tumors and tracking how they
evolve over time from diagnosis through to relapse. These findings
provide the ability to identify a novel class of tumor markers
called clonal neoantigens that are present on all tumor cells yet
absent from healthy tissue, making them ideal cancer targets.
TRACERx represents the largest investment in lung cancer research
by Cancer Research UK and Achilles has exclusive commercial
rights to the TRACERx study data for development of
neoantigen-targeting cell therapies.
About PELEUS
PELEUS is a proprietary, AI-powered
bioinformatics platform built and validated through exclusive
access to TRACERx knowhow and genomics data. PELEUS uses
sophisticated Bayesian statistical algorithms to distinguish which
mutations, or neoantigens, in a patient's tumor are clonal or
subclonal by synthesizing DNA sequencing information from multiple
tumor regions. Clonal neoantigens are protein markers that are
present on all of an individual's cancer cells but are absent from
healthy tissue, making them ideal cancer targets.
Forward Looking Statements
This press release contains express
or implied forward-looking statements that are based on the Company
management's belief and assumptions and on information currently
available to the Company's management. Forward-looking statements in this press release include, but
are not limited to, statements regarding the Company's clinical
trials and the Company's beliefs about its goals for the trials;
expectations related to the Company's cash runway and
operating expenses and capital expense
requirements; and the Company's review and
evaluation of potential strategic alternatives and their impact on
stockholder value.
Although the Company believes that the
expectations reflected in these forward-looking statements are
reasonable, these statements relate to future events or the
Company's future operational or financial performance, and involve
known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may
cause the Company's actual results, performance, or achievements to
be materially different from any future results, performance or
achievements expressed or implied by these forward-looking
statements. The forward-looking statements in this press release
represent the Company's views as of the date of this press release.
We anticipate that subsequent events and developments will cause
the Company's views to change. However, while the Company may elect
to update these forward-looking statements at some point in the
future, the Company has no current intention of doing so except to
the extent required by applicable law. You should therefore not
rely on these forward-looking statements as representing the
Company's views as of any date subsequent to the date of this press
release.
Other
Merrill Lynch International (BofA
Securities), a subsidiary of Bank of America Corporation, which is
authorized by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by
the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation
Authority in the United Kingdom, is acting exclusively for the
Company in connection with the matters that are set out in this
announcement and for no one else and will
not be responsible to anyone other than the Company for providing
the protections afforded to its clients or for providing advice in
relation to the subject matter of this announcement or any other
matters referred to in this announcement.
For further information, please
contact:
Investors:
Meru Advisors
Lee M.
Stern
lstern@meruadvisors.com
Media:
ICR Consilium
Sukaina Virji, Tracy Cheung
+44 (0) 203 709 5000
achillestx@consilium-comms.com