Overview
Syncona : SYNC (formerly Battle Against Cancer Investment Trust or BACIT – ticker BACT) aims to be a leading, self-managed, life science investment company. It has absorbed funds managed by Wellcome and Cancer Research UK and is transitioning its portfolio from that of a global fund of funds.
you can access the fund’s website here
Fundamentals
Price
Research History
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14 Jul 2020 13 min read
QuotedData’s Investment Companies Quarterly Review – Second Quarter 2020
Investment Companies Quarterly Roundup Kindly sponsored by Baillie Gifford and Aberdeen Standard Investments Table of contents In this issue Performance data Positive movers Negative movers Discounts and premiums Getting more expensive Getting cheaper Money in and out Money in Money out Major news stories Upcoming Events New research Guide The legal bit When the going gets […]
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07 Jul 2020 10 min read
QuotedData’s Investment Companies Roundup – July 2020
Investment Companies Roundup Kindly sponsored by Baillie Gifford and Aberdeen Standard Investments Table of contents New research Performance data Discounts and premiums Money in and out Major news stories Income Events Guide Appendix – Performance by sector full list New research Here is a list of research we published over June: CQS New City High Yield – […]
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11 min read
QuotedData’s Economic Roundup – July 2020
Economic & Political Roundup Kindly sponsored by Allianz A collation of recent insights on markets and economies taken from the comments made by chairmen and investment managers of investment companies – have a read and make your own minds up. Please remember that nothing in this note is designed to encourage you to buy or sell […]
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10 Mar 2020 10 min read
QuotedData’s Investment Companies Roundup – March 2020
Investment Companies Roundup Kindly sponsored by Baillie Gifford and Aberdeen Standard Investments Table of contents New research In this issue Performance data Discounts and premiums Money in and out Major news stories Income Events Guide New research Here is a list of research we published over February: An initiation note on Montanaro UK Smaller Companies Trust (MTU) […]
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24 Jan 2020 28 min read
QuotedData’s Investment Companies Annual Review – 2019
In this issue The sector at the end of 2019 Performance data Performance by sector and fund Money in and out of the sector Money in and out of existing funds Money coming into existing funds Money going out of existing funds Liquidations, de-listings and trading cancellations Significant rating changes Major news stories Outlook for […]
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06 Dec 2019 7 min read
QuotedData’s economic roundup – December 2019
Economic & Political Roundup Kindly sponsored by Polar Capital and Allianz A collation of recent insights on markets and economies taken from the comments made by chairmen and investment managers of investment companies – have a read and make your own minds up. Please remember that nothing in this note is designed to encourage you […]
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07 Aug 2019 4 min read
QuotedData’s investment companies roundup – August 2019
Investment Companies Roundup New research Over July, we published notes on CQS New City High Yield, BlackRock Throgmorton, Strategic Equity Capital, Seneca Global Income & Growth, CG Asset Management, Standard Life Investments Property Income and Aberdeen New Dawn. You can read all these notes by clicking on the links above or by visiting www.quoteddata.com. In this issue Performance data – appetite […]
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12 Jul 2019 9 min read
Quarterly investment companies roundup – Second quarter 2019
Quarterly investment companies roundup – Second quarter 2019 QuotedData news Global equities re-found momentum in June after a cautious April and May. How much longer this ten-year bull market can sustain itself continues to be the subject of much debate. The prospect of interest rate cuts in the US has re-invigorated sentiment for the time […]
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05 Jul 2019 8 min read
QuotedData’s economic roundup – July 2019
Economic & Political Roundup A collation of recent insights on markets and economies taken from the comments made by chairmen and investment managers of investment companies – have a read and make your own minds up. Please remember that nothing in this note is designed to encourage you to buy or sell any of the […]
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07 Jun 2019 4 min read
QuotedData’s investment companies roundup – June 2019
Investment Companies Roundup New research Over May, we published notes on Shires Income, Standard Life Private Equity and The North American Income Trust. You can read all these notes by clicking on the links above or by visiting www.quoteddata.com. In this issue Performance data – it was notable that risk appetite was down in May as renewed […]
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08 May 2019 4 min read
QuotedData’s investment companies roundup – May 2019
Investment Companies Roundup New research Over April, we published notes on Henderson Diversified Income, Ecofin Global Utilities and Infrastructure, Jupiter Emerging and Frontier Income, Seneca Global Income & Growth and Polar Capital Global Financials Trust. You can read all these notes by clicking on the links above or by visiting www.quoteddata.com. In this issue Performance data – it was […]
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15 Apr 2019 8 min read
Quarterly Investment Companies Roundup – First Quarter 2019
Quarterly Investment Companies Roundup – First Quarter 2019 QuotedData news Through the first quarter of 2019, global equities largely clawed back the losses suffered over the final weeks of 2018. How much longer this ten-year bull market can sustain itself is the subject of much debate. US interest rate rises have stalled, reflecting growing cautiousness. Elsewhere, […]
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04 Apr 2019 2 min read
QuotedData’s investment companies roundup – April 2019
QuotedData’s investment companies roundup – April 2019 is our latest roundup of news; price, NAV and discount movements; flows in and out of the sector and report on full year dividends announced over the month of March 2019. Kindly sponsored by Baillie Gifford. JPMorgan Indian, India Capital Growth, Aberdeen New India and Ashoka India Equity Investment […]
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13 Nov 2018 1 min read
QuotedData’s investment companies roundup – November 2018
QuotedData’s investment companies roundup – November 2018 is our latest roundup of news; price, NAV and discount movements; flows in and out of the sector and report on full year dividends announced over the month of October 2018. Kindly sponsored by Baillie Gifford. Winners and losers in October In what was generally a miserable month for equity markets, Brazil shone […]
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16 Oct 2018 2 min read
Quarterly Investment Companies Roundup – Third Quarter 2018
Quarterly Investment Companies Roundup – Third Quarter 2018 Global equities delivered positive returns over the third quarter of 2018. This was principally because of strength in the US market. Political uncertainty and concerns about global trade held back other regions. Generally, government bond yields rose over the quarter. The UK equity market fell as the Bank of […]
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12 Oct 2018 1 min read
QuotedData’s investment companies roundup – October 2018
QuotedData’s investment companies roundup – October 2018 is our latest roundup of news; price, NAV and discount movements; flows in and out of the sector and report on full year dividends announced over the month of August 2018. Kindly sponsored by Baillie Gifford. Money raised and returned in September Trian Investors 1 is a new fund that will adopt […]
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14 Sep 2018 1 min read
QuotedData’s investment companies roundup – September 2018
QuotedData’s investment companies roundup – September 2018 is our latest roundup of news; price, NAV and discount movements; flows in and out of the sector and report on full year dividends announced over the month of August 2018. Kindly sponsored by Baillie Gifford. Money raised and returned in August GRIT Real Estate Income floated on the UK Stock Exchange in […]
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13 Mar 2018 2 min read
QuotedData’s investment companies roundup – March 2018
QuotedData investment companies roundup – March 2018 – is our latest roundup of news; price, NAV and discount movements; flows in and out of the sector and report on full year dividends announced over the month of February 2018. Kindly sponsored by Baillie Gifford. Equity markets continued to run up in early February, supported by strong corporate earnings […]
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18 Jan 2018 2 min read
QuotedData – 2017 review of the year
QuotedData – 2017 review of the year – Many commentators, including us, were wary going into 2017. In the event, economic growth and markets surprised on the upside: US markets hit new highs despite three interest rate rises. Perceived low/no growth areas such as Europe and Japan burst into life. Asia’s technology stocks surged. India’s […]
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19 Oct 2017 2 min read
Quarterly investment companies roundup – Third quarter 2017
Quarterly investment companies roundup – Third quarter 2017 – Markets moved up a little over the course of the three months ended 30 September 2017. Regionally, emerging markets did well. The pound strengthened a bit relative to the US dollar but was flat against the euro. The oil price rose by more than 20%. In […]
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07 Dec 2016 1 min read
QuotedData investment companies roundup – December 2016
Our latest roundup of news; price, NAV and discount movements; flows in and out of the sector and report on full year dividends announced over the month of November 2016. december-investment-companies-roundup
News
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02 Mar 2021 2 min read
QuotedData’s morning briefing 2 March 2021
In QuotedData’s morning briefing 2 March 2021: Syncona (SYNC) notes that Achilles Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing precision T cell therapies to treat solid tumours, announced it has filed a registration statement in relation to a proposed IPO. Syncona owns 44% of Achilles which it values at £72.4m. RTW Venture Fund (RTW) participated in a Series […]
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15 Feb 2021 3 min read
QuotedData’s morning briefing 15 February 2021
In QuotedData’s morning briefing 15 February 2021: Tritax EuroBox (EBOX) has sold its asset in Lodz, Poland for €65.5 million, 15% above its most recent valuation at 30 September 2020 and, based on the company’s target gearing of 45%, delivering an attractive geared IRR of 16.5% to shareholders. They bought this is April 2019 and completed a […]
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11 Feb 2021 3 min read
Syncona backs Quell financing
Syncona backs Quell financing – Syncona Ltd has made a new £25.3m commitment to a £61.0m expanded Series A financing for Quell Therapeutics. This is the largest amount of funding to date for any stand-alone engineered T regulatory cell (Treg) company [see below] and takes Syncona’s total commitment to this business to £59.3m (of which £35.1m […]
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10 Feb 2021 1 min read
QuotedData’s morning briefing 10 February 2021
In QuotedData’s morning briefing 10 February 2021 – Syncona, a leading healthcare company focused on founding, building and funding global leaders in life science, made note of the news that its portfolio company, Autolus Therapeutics announced the pricing of its underwritten public offering in the United States of 14,285,715 American Depositary Shares (“ADSs”) representing 14,285,715 […]
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05 Feb 2021 3 min read
Syncona’s Achilles Therapeutics announces positive trial recommendation
Achilles Therapeutics, a Syncona portfolio company, has announced that an Independent Data and Safety Monitoring Committee (IDSMC) has completed its first review of the ongoing, first-in-human Phase I/II CHIRON and THETIS trials and has recommended that both clinical trials continue as planned. Achilles Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing precision T cell therapies to […]
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15 Dec 2020 2 min read
QuotedData’s morning briefing 15 December 2020
In QuotedData’s morning briefing 15 December 2020: Triple Point Social Housing has secured an increase to its existing Revolving Credit Facility (RCF jointly provided by Lloyds Bank and National Westminster Bank. The RCF will increase from £130m to £160m. The term has been extended by a year to 20 December 2023 and comes at 1.85% over LIBOR. […]
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08 Dec 2020 2 min read
QuotedData’s morning briefing 8 December 2020
In QuotedData’s morning briefing 8 December 2020 – Syncona’s Autolius reported positive results in its ALLCAR Phase 1 study, where it is using AUTO1 to treat Adult Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. COVID has delayed phase 2 – it says that “…enrolment projections have had to be adjusted. We now expect to enroll patients throughout 2021 with a […]
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19 Nov 2020 2 min read
Syncona founds Purespring
Syncona founds Purespring Therapeutics with a £45.0 million Series A financing commitment. Syncona will have an 84% stake in the business. Purespring Therapeutics is one of the first AAV gene therapy companies focused on the kidney. It has been founded around the work of Professor Moin Saleem, Professor of Paediatric Renal Medicine at the University of Bristol, […]
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02 Nov 2020 3 min read
QuotedData’s morning briefing 2 November 2020
In QuotedData’s morning briefing 2 November 2020 – Downing Strategic Micro-Cap (DSM) reported interim results for the six months ended 31 August 2020. The NAV increased by 22.5% from the March 2020 low-point, but was down 5.5% over the period, on a per-share basis. Chairman, Hugh Aldous, noted the following: “I said in May that we […]
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15 Sep 2020 2 min read
Syncona makes two new investments
Syncona makes two new investments – Resolution Therapeutics and Neogene Therapeutics Resolution Therapeutics Following a collaboration agreement with the University of Edinburgh in 2018, Resolution has been founded by Syncona as a cell therapy company investigating the use of macrophages for the treatment of patients with end stage liver disease. In pre-clinical studies, macrophages have been […]
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07 Aug 2020 2 min read
QuotedData’s weekly news show 7 August 2020
Thank you to everyone that listened in today, whether you watched the Zoom live, on Facebook or on youtube. In this week’s show, James Carthew covered the week’s top stories: SDCL Energy Efficiency’s foray into EV charging Hipgnosis C shares and NAVs Hammerson’s expensive rights issue Syncona’s IPO of Freeline Watch it again here We’ll be back next week […]
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2 min read
Syncona updates on Freeline IPO
Syncona has provided an update on the initial public offering (IPO) of its company, Freeline Therapeutics Holdings Plc. Freeline is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on AAV-based gene therapy targeting the liver. The key takeaways from the announcement are as follows: Freeline has announced the pricing of its IPO in the United States. This is […]
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04 Aug 2020 2 min read
QuotedData’s morning briefing 4 August 2020
In QuotedData’s morning briefing 4 August 2020, as BP cuts its dividend for the first time in a decade: BMO Commercial Property is to reintroduce a monthly dividend from this month at 0.25p per share (half the previous rate). The NAV return for the three months ended 30 June 2020 was -2.9%. The retail and leisure […]
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20 Jul 2020 1 min read
QuotedData’s morning briefing 20 July 2020
Growth sector company, Merian Chrysalis (MERI), announced that it had entered into a transaction to partially realise one of its investments in the portfolio; this realisation is expected to raise approximately £20m. This transaction has been undertaken at a valuation that represents a material mark up in the company’s current carrying value of the asset. MERI notes […]
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14 Jul 2020 1 min read
QuotedData’s morning briefing 14 July 2020
In QuotedData’s morning briefing 14 July 2020: Pollen Street Secured Lending shareholders remain in limbo as the deadline for Waterfall making an offer for the company is extended again. This time until 5pm on 11 August. Standard Life Private Equity’s estimated NAV edged higher in May to 431.2p from 427.7p. 99% of the valuations of […]
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30 Jun 2020 1 min read
Syncona’s Freeline may IPO
Syncona’s Freeline may IPO – Freeline Therapeutics says that it raised a total of $120m from investors in its Series C fundraising. $40m of this came from Syncona (in December 2019). Syncona has written up the value of its investment to reflect the pricing of the fundraise. Its 60% stake in Freeline is now valued at […]
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12 Jun 2020 2 min read
Syncona’s Autolus presents new clinical data
Syncona’s Autolus presents new clinical data Autolus Therapeutics today announced new data highlighting progress on its AUTO1 program, the company’s CAR T cell therapy being investigated in the ongoing ALLCAR Phase 1 study of relapsed / refractory adult B-Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia (ALL), at the European Hematology Association EHA25 Virtual Congress beginning June 11. AUTO1 in […]
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11 Jun 2020 4 min read
Syncona success overshadowed by Autolus price fall
Syncona success overshadowed by Autolus price fall – Syncona reports that for the year ended 31 March 2020, its NAV fell by 13.3% from 216.8p to 185.6p. An 81% fall in the price of Autolus weighed heavily on the NAV. Since the year end, Autolus’s share price has climbed by 131%, which should have added about […]
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29 May 2020 2 min read
QuotedData’s morning briefing 29 May 2020
In QuotedData’s morning briefing 29 May 2020: The balance between re-opening economies around the world and minimising new cases of covid-19 is delicate. South Korea has closed schools, just a day after re-opening, after recording its highest total of new cases in two-months, yesterday. Templeton Emerging (TEM) has received a tax windfall from HMRC. £26.5m or […]
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23 Apr 2020 1 min read
Syncona ups SwanBio investment
Syncona ups SwanBio investment – Syncona Ltd has made a $51.0m new commitment in a $77.0m expanded Series A financing by SwanBio Therapeutics. This new commitment takes Syncona’s total commitment to this business to $74.0m. Syncona has invested $19.6m now, and the holding is now valued (at cost) at £34.3m. This expanded Series A financing will […]
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23 Mar 2020 2 min read
Syncona says portfolio clinical trials likely delayed for at least three months
The global life sciences fund, Syncona (SYNC), has released the following update pertaining to the Covid-19 outbreak. “Since the start of the outbreak, SYNC has taken measures to protect its employees, primarily centred around remote working, to help ensure that the company can continue to operate with as minimal disruption as possible. The company has formed […]
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13 Feb 2020 3 min read
Syncona’s Freeline trials encouraging
Syncona’s Freeline trials encouraging – Syncona has nine investments in companies addressing a range of diseases, including many that are currently untreatable. QuotedData’s analyst, James Carthew, wrote an article about the company recently which explains a bit about how Syncona goes about investing in these businesses. One of these, Freeline, is using gene therapy to […]
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30 Jan 2020 2 min read
Syncona updates on Autolus
Syncona updates on Autolus – Autolus Therapeutics, a key holding for Syncona, has announced additional data regarding its ongoing Phase 1/2 clinical trial of its next-generation programmed T cell therapy, AUTO3, to treat adults with relapsed/refractory diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL). The data is to be presented in a keynote lecture titled “Improved CAR T […]
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23 Jan 2020 2 min read
Syncona’s Autolus holding raises $80m
Syncona (SYNC), a leading healthcare company focused on founding, building and funding global leaders in life science, has noted that its portfolio company, Autolus Therapeutics (Autolus) has announced the pricing of its underwritten public offering in the United States of 7,250,000 American Depositary Shares (ADSs) representing 7,250,000 ordinary shares for total gross proceeds of approximately $80m (£60.7 million[1]). SYNC says it has agreed […]
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22 Jan 2020 1 min read
QuotedData’s other news 22 January 2020
In QuotedData’s other news 22 January 2020 Yellow Cake, the uranium fund, is instituting a $2m buyback programme in an effort to narrow its discount. The programme lasts for three months, shares will be held in treasury. Syncona says that its portfolio company, Freeline will be disclosing further data from its Phase 1/2 B-AMAZE trial investigating […]
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19 Dec 2019 2 min read
Syncona invests $80m in Freeline
Syncona invests $80m in Freeline – Syncona has made a $80.0 million commitment in a Series C financing by Freeline and has funded the first tranche of this commitment, amounting to $40.0 million (GBP30.6 million). Syncona has a 79% fully diluted ownership stake in Freeline at the point full current commitments are invested. Freeline is progressing […]
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09 Dec 2019 2 min read
New data from Syncona’s Autolus holding
New data from Syncona’s Autolus holding – Syncona (SYNC), a leading healthcare company focused on founding, building and funding global leaders in life science, has this morning made note of the announcement that its portfolio company, Autolus Therapeutics (Autolus), announced new data highlighting progress on its next-generation programmed T cell therapies to treat patients with relapsed/refractory diffuse […]
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03 Sep 2019 3 min read
Syncona funding Gyroscope and Achilles
Syncona funding Gyroscope and Achilles – Syncona has announced two deals this morning. The first is a £48m commitment to Gyroscope Therapeutics, making up most of a £50.4m Series B financing. This brings Syncona’s total commitment to Gyroscope since foundation to £82.0m and it owns an 80 per cent stake in the business. Syncona is holding this […]
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12 Aug 2019 1 min read
QuotedData’s other news 12 August 2019
In QuotedData’s other news 12 August 2019 Unite Group, one of the UK’s leading owners, managers and developers of student accommodation, announces that it has exchanged contracts to acquire a new 620-bed development site in Nottingham.The direct let development, which is subject to planning consent, will open in time for the 2022/23 academic year. Total development costs […]
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2 min read
Autolus investment the main drag in an otherwise solid quarter from Syncona
Autolus investment the main drag in an otherwise solid quarter from Syncona – Syncona, which predominantly invests in life sciences companies, has released a quarterly update this morning (covering the period to 30 June 2019). We have covered many of the events referenced by the company, in earlier news stories, which we link to in […]
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01 Aug 2019 1 min read
QuotedData’s other news 1 August 2019
In QuotedData’s other news 1 August 2019 GCP Student Living is planning to dip into its debt facilities to fund the acquisition of the 412-bed Scape Mile End Canalside. Its LTV ratio could move into the mid 30s per cent. level. Fidelity Japan was 7.6% ahead of its benchmark at the half-year stage (up 14.8%). The […]
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27 Jun 2019 3 min read
Syncona sells Blue Earth Diagnostics to Bracco Imaging
Syncona sells Blue Earth Diagnostics to Bracco Imaging – Syncona has reached an agreement to sell Blue Earth Diagnostics to Bracco Imaging, a global leader in diagnostic imaging for $450 million (GBP354.3 million) plus closing adjustment estimated at $25 million (GBP19.7 million). The sale delivers a 10.0x multiple, including prior distributions, on invested capital for Syncona […]
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13 Jun 2019 3 min read
Syncona to step up capital deployment after great year
Syncona to step up capital deployment after great year – Syncona has announced a whopping 37.9% return on NAV for the year ended 31 March 2019. It has transformed its portfolio so that life sciences investments now account for £1.06bn of the fund’s £1.46bn NAV. Some highlights: foundation of three highly innovative portfolio companies OMASS Therapeutics […]
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20 May 2019 1 min read
QuotedData’s other news 20 May 2019
John Laing Environmental Assets Group (JLEN) has announced the appointment of Hans Joern Rieks as a non-executive director of the company, commencing 13 June 2019. LXi REIT (LXI), the specialist inflation-protected very long income REIT, has reported annual results for the year ended 31 March 2019. LXI’s leases are typically 20 to 30 years to expiry […]
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07 May 2019 2 min read
Syncona’s Blue Earth gets good results in prostate cancer diagnosis
Syncona’s Blue Earth gets good results in prostate cancer diagnosis – Syncona has a large stake in Blue Earth Diagnostics. Blue Earth has been testing its prostate cancer diagnosis at a university hospital in Germany. The test (a radiohybrid PSMA-targeted agent, rhPSMA-7) for high-risk primary and recurrent prostate cancer was bought by Blue Earth in […]
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11 Apr 2019 1 min read
Syncona establishes retinal gene therapy platform
Syncona establishes retinal gene therapy platform – Syncona has announced the merger of two of its companies, Gyroscope Therapeutics (Gyroscope), an ophthalmology company developing genetically defined therapies for retinal diseases and Orbit Biomedical (Orbit), a specialist medical device company focused on precision sub-retinal therapeutic delivery. Syncona will own 82% of the enlarged company (a holding value […]
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02 Apr 2019 3 min read
Syncona/Woodford investment Autolus reports positive data
Syncona/Woodford investment Autolus reports positive data – Claire Roddie MB, PhD, FRCPath, honorary senior lecturer, Cancer Institute, University College London, has presented initial data from the ongoing Phase 1/2 trial of AUTO1 in adult acute lymphoblastic B cell leukemia (ALL). the presentation was made at the American Association of Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2019 in Atlanta, […]
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14 Mar 2019 2 min read
Wellcome Trust charity cuts stake in Syncona
Wellcome Trust charity cuts stake in Syncona – Wellcome Trust Limited, a UK biomedical charity, has confirmed that it has sold approximately 57 million ordinary shares in Syncona Limited (SYNC). This represents approximately 8.7% of Syncona’s issued ordinary share capital. The shares were sold at 245p per share, equating to gross proceeds of approximately £141m for […]
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12 Mar 2019 1 min read
Syncona shifting funds into cash
Syncona shifting funds into cash – Syncona is changing the way it invests the portion of its portfolio that is not committed to biotech investments. It says: “Over the last two years, Syncona has evolved the investment parameters of its strategic capital pool to focus on liquidity and capital preservation in order to support Syncona’s […]
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04 Mar 2019 2 min read
Syncona’s Nightstar Therapeutics to be sold for $877m
Syncona’s Nightstar Therapeutics to be acquired for $877m – Syncona Limited founded Nightstar Therapeutics in 2013, with an original investment of £56.4m. Syncona’s holding of Nightstar at the time of sale was £254.6m, a £135.4m uplift previous valuation. This results in a 4.5x multiple on Syncona’s original investment and an internal rate of return (IRR) […]
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26 Feb 2019 3 min read
Syncona funds new immuno-oncology company
Syncona funds new immuno-oncology company – Syncona is contributing CHF 28 million (GBP21.4 million) to a CHF 35 million (GBP26.8 million) fundraising being carried out by Anaveon, a new immuno-oncology company. Syncona will have a 47.0 per cent stake in the business. Anaveon was founded in December 2017 by leading experts in the field of immunotherapy, […]
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10 Aug 2018 1 min read
Syncona remains at high premium and highly geared to Autolus
Syncona remains at high premium and highly geared to Autolus Syncona (SYNC)‘s shares have been the second best performer this year among the 14 biotech investment trusts monitored by Marten & Co, rising by 24.5% in the first seven months to end July. However, the trust’s NAV has only gained 8.7% in the period and […]
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07 Aug 2018 2 min read
Investment Trust Insider on Syncona
Investment Trust Insider on Syncona James Carthew: the problem with Syncona’s big premium Regular readers of this column will have realised that I often have as much of a problem with investment trusts trading on very high premiums as I do with trusts trading on very wide discounts. I explained a couple of weeks ago […]
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03 Aug 2018 1 min read
Tekla Healthcare top specialist fund performer in July
Tekla Healthcare top specialist fund performer in July Tekla Healthcare Opportunities, a US closed end fund that invests largely in US large cap pharma and biotech, saw the best investment performance of the 14 specialist biotech specialist investors monitored by Marten & Co, in terms of its sterling-adjusted NAV performance for the month of July. Switzerland’s BB […]
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2 min read
Arix remains highly geared to Autolus value
Arix remains highly geared to Autolus value Arix Bioscience’s 8% investment in Autolus Therapeutics (Nasdaq: AUTL), the recently floated second-generation CAR-T company, now accounts for more than half of the value of its investments, some 25% of its NAV and almost 30% of its stockmarket value, according to calculations by Marten & Co. Arix is by far […]
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25 Jun 2018 2 min read
Arix, Syncona and WPCT bank gains after Autolus “pops” on Nasdaq IPO
Arix, Syncona and WPCT bank gains after Autolus “pops” on Nasdaq IPO Arix Bioscience (ARIX), Syncona (SYNC) and Woodford Patient Capital Trust (WPCT) should be able to record some sizeable NAV gains this month, as previously highlighted in earlier Quoteddata.com articles, on the back of a revaluation to market value of their respective holdings in the common portfolio […]
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21 Jun 2018 2 min read
US biotech IPO market faces key test after record five pricings
US biotech IPO market faces key test after record five pricings The currently buoyant US market for biotech new issues faces a key test, after a record five companies priced Nasdaq offerings in a single day. The success of those listings in the immediate after-market is likely to be important gauge of the overall health […]
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20 Jun 2018 2 min read
Syncona accelerates investment in gene therapy portfolio
Syncona accelerates investment in gene therapy portfolio LSE-listed biotech VC fund Syncona (SYNC) has made a significant investment in three of its portfolio companies involved in developing gene therapies, with staged commitments of £85m ($112m) to Freeline Therapeutics, $35m to SwanBio and $12m to Orbit Biomedical. Freeline, which was spun out from University College London (UCL) in 2015, is […]
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14 Jun 2018 1 min read
Arix, Syncona and WPCT look set to reap gains on pending Autolus IPO
Arix, Syncona and WPCT look set to reap gains on pending Autolus Nasdaq IPO Three LSE-listed health/biotech venture capital investment firms – Arix Bioscience (ARIX), Syncona (SYNC) and Woodford Patient Capital Trust (WPCT) – should see a nice boost to their NAV if Autolus, the UK-based CAR-T cell company completes its proposed Nasdaq IPO. Autolus is a portfolio company for […]
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04 May 2018 2 min read
Syncona to benefit from Blue Earth value gain
Syncona to benefit from Blue Earth value gain UK hybrid biotech investor/fund-of-funds Syncona (SYNC) should be able to take a c£64m increase in the value of its shareholding in Blue Earth Diagnostics this month, after the company was revalued on the back of an licensing agreement. The value of Syncona’s 90% holding in the diagnostics company will rise from £123.1m […]
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05 Apr 2018 2 min read
Syncona sees slight dip in NAV as Nightstar declines
Syncona sees slight dip in NAV as Nightstar declines UK hybrid biotech investor/fund-of-funds Syncona (SYNC) saw a 0.8% fall in its NAV in February according to its latest factsheet, principally as a result of an 8% decline in the value of its holding in US-listed Nightstar Therapeutics. Syncona holds a 42% stake in this Nasdaq-quoted, but UK […]
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27 Feb 2018 2 min read
Syncona records flat month for NAV in January with small share price rise
Syncona records flat month for NAV in January with small share price rise UK hybrid biotech investor/fund-of-funds Syncona (SYNC) recorded an essentially flat month for NAV in January, with a small decline overall recorded for its three largest investments – presumably in part related to the weakening of the dollar – offset by a gain of an […]
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22 Dec 2017 2 min read
Post IPO fall for Nightstar hits Syncona
Post IPO fall for Nightstar hits Syncona A fall in the post IPO share price of Nasdaq-listed, UK-based gene therapy specialist Nightstar Therapeutics marred an otherwise strong performance for UK biotech investment trust Syncona (SYNC) in November, whose NAV dipped by 4% in the month, according to its latest monthly update. Syncona’s 42% ownership of Nightstar […]
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26 Sep 2017 2 min read
Syncona backs Autolus fund raise
Syncona backs Autolus fund raise – Syncona has announced that its portfolio company, Autolus, has completed a US$80 million Series C funding round. Autolus is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialisation of next-generation engineered CAR-T cell therapies for the treatment of cancer. Syncona was the single largest investor in the $80 […]
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01 Sep 2017 1 min read
Syncona says NightstaRx files for IPO
Syncona says NightstaRx files for IPO – Syncona Ltd, today notes that its portfolio company NightstaRx Limited (to be reorganised as Nightstar Therapeutics Limited) has filed a registration statement on Form F-1 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) for a proposed initial public offering, in the United States, of its American Depositary […]
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06 Jul 2017 2 min read
A transformative year for Syncona
Syncona has announced its annual results for the year ended 31 March 2017. It was a year that the company describes as ‘transformative’ with strong performance across the business. It lists the following highlights: Net assets at year end of £895.2m, 136.0p per share, a total return of 12.5%; Successful completion of the acquisition of […]
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28 Jun 2017 2 min read
Syncona writes up NightstaRx value
Syncona writes up NightstaRx value – Syncona investment, NightstaRx has completed a US$45m funding round. Syncona has invested $12.5m at this stage and retains a 46% stake in the business. The existing investment in NightsaRx has been written up by £20.3m (3.1p per Syncona share) to £69.7m. NightstaRx also attracted investment in this round from […]
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25 May 2017 1 min read
Syncona up on drug approval
Syncona up on drug approval – on Wednesday 23 May, Syncona announced that Blue Earth Diagnostics had received confirmation of approval of its product AxuminT (fluciclovine (18F)) (“Axumin”) by the European Commission. This follows the announcement on 24 March 2017 that the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use had made a positive recommendation for […]
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22 Nov 2016 4 min read
BACIT’s sterling hedge limits benefits from sterling depreciation
BACIT has announced its interim results for the six months ended 30 September 2016. During the period, the company’s NAV total return was 4.82%, thereby underperforming the FTSE All-Share Index, which returned 12.85%. Reflecting a widening of the discount during the period, the company’s share price fell by 4.2%. The trust’s chairman, Jeremy Tigue, says […]
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07 Nov 2016 7 min read
BACIT to become a life sciences company
BACIT plans to expand its investment policy and grow its assets under management with a couple of deals. This will nudge the fund towards becoming more of a life sciences company. BACIT is hoping to acquire Syncona LLP, a limited partnership vehicle founded by Wellcome Trust. this has an existing portfolio of life science investments. The […]
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05 Jul 2016 2 min read
BACIT charitable donations pass £13m
For the year to 31 March 2016 BACIT‘s Net Asset Value total return per share was -0.2% and the share price total return was 8.5%. This compares to falls in the MSCI World Index of 3.5% and the FTSE All-Share of 3.9%. BACIT will pay a scrip dividend of 2.2 pence per share on 19 August 2016. Shareholders […]
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24 Nov 2015 3 min read
BACIT backed Woodford fund
BACIT Limited has announced interim results for the six months ended 30 September 2015. The return on net assets for the period was -3.28% which compares to -7.19% for the FTSE All-Share Index and -6.78% for the HFRI Fund of Funds Strategic Index. Looking at the portfolio: Equity Funds (24.9% at 30 September 2015 vs. […]
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1 min read
BACIT to start paying management fees
BACIT is proposing that it start paying management fees. These won’t be huge and the investment policy – that it will invest in underlying funds on a “gross return” basis, that it will invest up to 1% a year of its net asset value in drug development projects and that it will donate 1% a year of […]
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11 Aug 2015 3 min read
Woodford Patient Capital unveils its portfolio
Woodford Patient Capital has published its first set of figures – interims covering the period from its launch until the end of June 2015. The net asset value at the end of the period was 101.86p and the share price 113.5p – putting it on a premium of 11.4%. The Board is planning to issue […]
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07 Jul 2015 2 min read
BACIT increasing exposure to hedged strategies
In a perfect illustration of the dangers of buying a fund on a large premium, BACIT results show that its share price fell by a penny or 0.8% from 122p to 121p over the year to the end of March 2015 – this despite the net asset value rising by 9.6% from 114p to 125p. […]
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25 Nov 2014 1 min read
BACIT cautious on markets
BACT : BACIT cautious on markets Over the period from 1 April 2014 to 30 September 2014 BACIT generated a total return of just 0.6% on net assets – the net asset value fell from 114.1p to 112.8p but this was after the payment of a 2p dividend. The FTSE All-Share Index return was 1.2% […]
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09 Jul 2014 1 min read
BACIT : BACT – Annual report
Over the year to 31 March 2014 BACIT generated a return on net assets of 3.63% and a share price return of 9.62%. During this period the FTSE All-Share Index return was 8.81% and the return on the Hedge Fund Research Institute Fund of Funds Strategic Index was negative 2.53% (in sterling terms). They say […]
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16 Nov 2020 2 min read
Engines of growth: Investment trusts for responsible investing
Engines of growth: Investment trusts for responsible investing By Mary McDougall, Investors Chronicle, 12 November 2020 Appetite for investment products with strong environmental, social and governance (ESG) credentials has boomed this year as the pandemic has put the need for a sustainable world under the spotlight. Enthusiasm has been helped by sustainable funds broadly outperforming their conventional peers […]
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14 Jul 2020 2 min read
The best of British
Make your investments fly high by picking the best of British: Why top fund managers believe future could be rosy for UK shares By ROSIE MURRAY-WEST, FINANCIAL MAIL ON SUNDAY PUBLISHED: 21:58, 11 July 2020 | UPDATED: 08:18, 13 July 2020 Investors who have flown the Union Flag over their portfolios this year have endured some stomach-churning turbulence as the […]
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25 Feb 2020 2 min read
Investment trust insider on health care
Investment trust insider on health care – James Carthew: healthcare trusts cut through US political noise Just nine months to go until the US election. If only we could lock all the candidates in a room for a year beforehand and harness the hot air. Instead we are condemned to endless opinion polls, voting shenanigans and […]
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10 Feb 2020 2 min read
Investment trust insider on Syncona
Investment trust insider on Syncona – James Carthew: Syncona has cash for life sciences land grab In August 2018 I questioned the 51% premium that life sciences investment company Syncona (SYNC) was then trading on and queried its high cash weighting. Syncona’s shares have been quite volatile but after spiking beyond £3 in October that year, […]
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09 Jan 2019 1 min read
Investment Trust Insider on 2018
Investment Trust Insider on 2018 – Lindsell Train leads best and worst investment trusts of 2018 (NB the headlines are devised by Citywire!!) 2018 is attracting headlines as the worst year for markets since 2008. However, for the investment trust industry, there was much to celebrate. This was certainly the case for the new issue market […]
