Syncona has announced that it has acted as a cornerstone investor, providing US$ 42.3 million (£30.8 million) investment, alongside specialist global institutional investors in US$148.0 million (£107.8 million) Series C financing, for Gyroscope Therapeutics Ltd. Syncona says that its holding in Gyroscope has been written up by £37.9 million (5.6p per share) to £150.6 million, which is a 38.3% uplift to its holding value of £98.9 million. Syncona’s ownership stake in Gyroscope is now 54%. The financing was led by Forbion’s Growth Opportunities Fund and also brought in investment from global institutional investors including Sofinnova Investments, Tetragon Financial Group Limited, an undisclosed healthcare focused fund, Fosun Pharma and Cambridge Innovation Capital. Seperately, Gyroscope has announced that it expects to consider additional capital raising options this year, which could include an initial public offering in the United States.
About the Gyroscope Therapeutics financing
Gyroscope Therapeutics is a clinical-stage gene therapy company focused on diseases of the eye. This financing will enable Gyroscope to advance clinical development of GT005, the company’s lead investigational gene therapy being evaluated for the treatment of geographic atrophy (GA) secondary to age-related macular degeneration (AMD). GT005 has received Fast Track designation from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and is being evaluated in Phase II clinical trials in two different genetically defined patient populations with GA. These funds will also enable Gyroscope to further advance its early stage pipeline and innovative delivery technology, including its proprietary OrbitTM subretinal delivery system, which is designed for precise delivery to the back of the eye.
Gyroscope has recently announced positive interim data from the Phase I/II FOCUS trial, showing that GT005 was well tolerated in patients and resulted in sustained increases in Complement Factor I as well as down-regulation of an overactive complement system – a part of the inflammatory system which has been strongly linked as a cause of dry AMD.
Comments from Chris Hollowood, CIO of Syncona Investment Management Limited and Chairman of Gyroscope
“Syncona founded Gyroscope in 2016 in partnership with leading academics to develop genetically defined treatments for dry AMD, a leading cause of blindness. Our continued investment is a reflection of the great progress this world-class team has made towards delivering on that promise. We look forward to partnering with Gyroscope’s new investors who share our excitement about the potential of the people and science to make a meaningful impact in patients’ lives.”
Comments from Khurem Farooq, CEO of Gyroscope
“We are excited to welcome a new group of leading life sciences investors on our journey to deliver gene therapy beyond rare disease. Their investment in Gyroscope will allow us to continue building our portfolio of investigational gene therapies, including our lead investigational gene therapy, GT005. We recently announced encouraging Phase I/II clinical trial data with GT005 that give us confidence in its potential as a treatment for geographic atrophy and are now focused on advancing our Phase II clinical programme.”
Update on Achilles Therapeutics PLC proposed IPO in the US
Achilles Therapeutics has filed an amended registration statement on Form F-1 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission relating to a proposed initial public offering in the United States of its American Depositary Shares (ADSs), each ADS representing one ordinary share. The registration statement discloses an indicative pricing range for the proposed offering of U.S. $17.00 – $19.00 per ADS. This would represent an increase in value of Syncona’s current shareholding in Achilles (compared to the sterling holding value announced on 31 December 2020) of £42.9-£59.1 million (6.4.p-8.8p per Syncona share).