14 November 2024
Syncona
Limited
Syncona launches new
portfolio company Slingshot, the Syncona
Accelerator
· Slingshot, the Syncona Accelerator, is focused on accumulating
and developing a pipeline of early-stage programmes identified from
academia
· Slingshot's first programme, Apini, is a small molecule
programme targeting inflammatory disease, sourced from The
University of Manchester
· Syncona has launched Slingshot with an initial commitment of
£12.5 million, which will be used to support the development of
Apini, as well as Slingshot's operational build and platform
development
· Syncona will have an 100% stake in Slingshot[1] with a current holding value of £5.6 million
following investment of the first tranche of the total
commitment
Syncona Ltd, ("Syncona") a leading
life science investor focused on creating,
building and scaling global leaders in life science,
today announces that it has launched a new
portfolio company Slingshot Therapeutics ("Slingshot"), the Syncona
Accelerator. Syncona has provided an initial commitment of £12.5
million to Slingshot and will have a 100% stake in the business
once all current commitments are invested. Following investment of
the first tranche of the commitment Syncona's current holding value
is £5.6 million.
Slingshot will benefit from
Syncona's expertise in creating and building companies from
early-stage science. It will focus on accumulating a pipeline of
early-stage programmes, identified from academia, and accelerating
their development towards the clinic. Through a high-quality
management team, Slingshot will offer academic founders access to
development expertise that is rarely available to singular
early-stage programmes, as well as centralised resource, funding
and operational support. This will enable them to efficiently
advance their programmes and creates a variety of options to
further progress programmes through the clinic and ultimately to
patients. Syncona will utilise Slingshot to advance multiple
pre-clinical programmes under one pipeline, with this centralised
structure providing a capital efficient and de-risked way to gain
more exposure to the returns available from translating highly
innovative science into promising biotech assets.
The initial £12.5 million commitment from Syncona
will be used to build Slingshot's operations, team and platform. It
also incorporates capital committed to Slingshot's first programme,
Apini (SSTX-001), a small molecule programme focused on
inflammatory disease, identified from the University of
Manchester.
Slingshot is led by Syncona
Investment Management Limited's (SIML) Managing Partner Edward
Hodgkin, who will act as Executive Chair of the company, and
Richard Wooster who has joined the company as Chief Scientific
Officer, having joined SIML as an Executive Partner in August 2024.
SIML's Chief Financial Officer, Kate Butler has joined Slingshot's
Board of Directors. Additional appointments have also been made to
support Slingshot's operations and the development of its
pipeline.
Edward Hodgkin, Managing Partner at SIML and Executive Chair
of Slingshot, said: "Slingshot is an
exciting addition to the Syncona portfolio, focused on accelerating
exceptional academic science into attractive biotech assets ready
for the clinic, creating an opportunity for a variety of paths to
take medicines to patients. Slingshot represents an opportunity to
bridge the gap between academic innovation and clinical development
of a novel medicine, whilst presenting Syncona with a capital
efficient way to access the returns available from translating
early innovation into promising biotech assets. Slingshot looks to
partner with outstanding scientific researchers who possess unique
insights into the relationship between drug targets and disease
outcomes. We are very excited to be able to announce our first
programme, Apini, and continue our work to actively source
additional opportunities for Slingshot across a broad range of
therapeutic areas."
[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.
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 Slingshot
Slingshot Therapeutics Limited
("Slingshot"), the Syncona Accelerator, was built to identify and
advance de-risked therapeutic programmes from the work of leading
academic researchers.
Slingshot provides an innovative
platform with access to centralised expertise, resource, funding
and operational support to accelerate exceptional academic science
into attractive biotech assets ready for clinical development.
Slingshot aims to accumulate a pipeline of small molecule
programmes across a range of therapeutics areas where there is
significant unmet medical need, identified from world-leading
academic institutions in the UK, US and Europe. For more
information please visit: slingshot-accelerator.co.uk