Syncona flags delays to clinical programmes amid pandemic
Syncona Limited NPV
123.40p
16:40 18/04/24
Syncona updated the market on its trading amid the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic on Monday, reporting that since the start of the outbreak, it had taken measures to protect its employees, primarily centred around remote working, to help ensure it could continue to operate with as minimal disruption as possible.
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The FTSE 250 firm said it had formed a working group to monitor and manage risks relating to the pandemic, with the health and safety of its staff said to be “a key priority”.
It said it expected at least a three month delay to trials across a number of clinical programmes in its portfolio.
The company said it was continuing to monitor the situation closely, and would keep the market updated as it gained further visibility on external developments.
Syncona said it did not currently expect that the delays would have any impact on the reported valuations of its privately-held companies, it added.
It said it managed its capital pool to focus on liquidity and capital preservation, reporting that in the period since 31 December, £39m of milestone payments had been made to portfolio companies.
As at 20 March, the firm’s capital pool amounted to around £780m, with about 90% of that in cash and cash equivalents and the rest held in legacy fixed term funds.
“Covid-19 will have a major impact across the healthcare systems where we are running our clinical studies,” said chief executive officer Martin Murphy.
“Healthcare systems are working to focus their resources on managing Covid-19 patients and, as a result, certain elective procedures and clinical trials will be de-prioritised while the peak epidemic is managed.
“Syncona fully supports these decisions.”
As a result of those developments, Murphy said Syncona;s companies had made or were considering appropriate plans for delays to clinical trials.
“While it is hard to forecast the precise impact, we would anticipate delays to a number of our clinical stage programmes of at least three months.
“Whilst the duration and level of disruption from Covid-19 across the industry remains uncertain at this time, we are working closely with our portfolio companies to minimise disruption, avoid unnecessary burdens on health services, and ensure the safety of their employees and the patients taking part in clinical studies.”
Martin Murphy said the company’s capital base of approximately £780m provides it with a “differentiated ability” to fund its companies through a prolonged period of widespread disruption and diligence new opportunities.
“While Covid-19 represents an unparalleled challenge to the public health system, it is important to remember that the need for medicines in other diseases continues undiminished and, once the Covid-19 situation has stabilised, clinical development activity will continue.
“With Syncona's support, our companies are well positioned to be resilient over the longer term as they look to realise their ambitions and our vision to deliver transformational treatments to patients in areas of high unmet medical need.”
At 0932 GMT, shares in Syncona were down 5.2% at 182.4p.